Toremifene, a new agent for treatment of mastalgia: an open study.
OBJECTIVE
Endocrine agents have been widely used in the treatment of mastalgia. Toremifene is an agent that predominantly has antiestrogenic properties with minimal estrogenic activities. This study was aimed at investigating this drug in the treatment of mastalgia and to evaluate its tolerability and efficacy.


METHODS
Seventeen premenopuasal women with a mean age of 37.7 years complaining of moderate to severe mastalgia received toremifene 60 mg daily. The treatment period was 12 weeks. 70% of patients had cyclical and 30% had noncyclical mastalgia.


RESULTS
All women with cyclical mastalgia responded to toremifene compared with only 75% of those with non-cyclical mastalgia. Four patients withdrew from the study after 4 weeks because of side effects, accounting for 23.5% of patients in the study.


CONCLUSIONS
This small study has shown that toremifene is an effective agent in the treatment of mastalgia, but a high incidence of side effects makes it ineligible as an agent of choice for treatment of mastalgia.
Hamed
H
H
Department of Academic Oncology, Breast Unit, Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital Trust, London, UK.
Kotheri
A
A
Beechey-Newman
N
N
Fentiman
I S
IS
D000328:Adult; D001941:Breast Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*; D020845:Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D013997:Time Factors; D017312:Toremifene / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D020845:Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators; D017312:Toremifene