Tamoxifen mediated human endometrial carcinogenesis may not involve estrogenic pathways: a preliminary note.
Seven cases of endometrial adenocarcinoma patients who had experienced long-term tamoxifen treatments as adjuvant therapy of breast carcinoma, were investigated with respect to estrogen receptor (ER) status. Four cases of endometrial adenocarcinoma without tamoxifen treatment but with a previous history of breast carcinoma were investigated for comparison. One of the 7 and two of the 4 cases were positive for ER immunohistochemically. Thus, the frequency of ER positivity in secondary endometrial adenocarcinoma seemed to be at random among tamoxifen-treated and non-treated breast cancer patients. These results suggest that tamoxifen-mediated human endometrial carcinogenesis may not involve estrogenic pathway(s) but may involve other carcinogenic mechanisms such as DNA adduct formation as shown in rat liver tumorigenesis.
Department of Pathology, Saitama Cancer Center, Japan.
Y
Y
Kuwashima
M
M
Kurosumi
Y
Y
Kobayashi
J
J
Tanuma
K
K
Suemasu
Y
Y
Higashi
T
T
Kasamatsu
K
K
Shiromizu
M
M
Matsuzawa
K
K
Kishi
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000737:chemistry*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000737:chemistry*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D016609:Neoplasms, Second Primary / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000737:chemistry*; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000032:analysis*; D013629:Tamoxifen / Q000009:adverse effects*
D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D013629:Tamoxifen