Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
8 Suppl
pubmed:dateCreated
1982-8-26
pubmed:abstractText
Human breast neoplasms can be divided into hormone-dependent and hormone-independent subtypes. Estrogen is the major hormonal stimulus for growth of the dependent tumors. Failure to respond to estrogen suppression therapy could reflect either an incomplete lowering of estrogens or the hormonal independence of the tumor. To address this issue, we compared the levels of several estrogens and other hormones in women experiencing objective responses (the responders) and disease progression (the progression group) during therapy with the aromatase-steroidogenesis inhibitor, aminoglutethimide, and replacement hydrocortisone. Pretreatment hormonal profiles of the estrogens, and androgens, ketosteroids, thyroxine, polypeptide hormones, and carcinoembryonic antigen did not differ significantly among response groups. During treatment, the levels of all estrogens were suppressed to a similar degree in the progression group and in the responders. Urinary estrone, for example, fell to 16.7 +/- 3.2% of basal in the responders versus 16.3 +/- 3.8% of basal in the progression group. These data suggested that lack of estrogen suppression did not explain the response to treatment in the patients receiving aminoglutethimide-hydrocortisone. This finding differs from our results in a similarly analyzed control group of patients treated with surgical adrenalectomy. Levels of the weak androgens, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate and androstenedione, were found to be higher in the progression group compared to the responders. This observation could not be explained by differences in duration of treatment between groups. Analysis at 1 to 12 weeks, 13 to 24 weeks, and 25 to 36 weeks after initiating treatment indicated higher androgen levels at each time point in the progression group. In addition, the results were not attributable to differing serum levels of aminoglutethimide among responder groups. While the finding of higher androgen levels in the responder group remains unexplained, this study indicates that incomplete estrogen suppression is not responsible for lack of tumor response in patients with progressive disease during amino-glutethimide-hydrocortisone therapy.
pubmed:grant
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Aug
pubmed:issn
0008-5472
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
42
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
3397s-3401s
pubmed:dateRevised
2007-11-14
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1982
pubmed:articleTitle
Adequacy of estrogen suppression with aminoglutethimide and hydrocortisone as treatment of human breast cancer: correlation of hormonal data with clinical responses.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.