The safety of tibolone in epithelial ovarian cancer patients.
OBJECTIVE
We evaluated whether tibolone had an adverse effect on the progression free survival and overall survival of epithelial ovarian cancer patients.


METHODS
Forty-two tibolone users and 33 non-users who had been surgically managed for epithelial ovarian cancer at Gil Medical Center, Inchon, Korea, from January 1997 to December 2003 were reviewed retrospectively.


RESULTS
There were no statistically significant differences in age, stage, histology, grade and surgical optimality between tibolone users and non-users. The progression free survival at 36 months was 60.0% among the users compared with 61.5% among the non-users (p=0.92). There was also no significant difference in the overall survival between two groups (p=0.30). For stage IIIc patients according to tibolone using, there were no significant differences in the progression free survival (p=0.86) and overall survival (p=0.36) between tibolone users and non-users.


CONCLUSIONS
There was no evidence that tibolone had detrimental effects on the progression free survival and overall survival of epithelial ovarian cancer patients. So, tibolone could be used in these patients.
Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Gachon Medical School, Inchon, Republic of Korea.
Kwang-Beom
KB
Lee
Jong-Min
JM
Lee
Jung-Hye
JH
Yoon
Chan-Yong
CY
Park
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002979:Climacteric / Q000187:drug effects; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D020847:Estrogen Receptor Modulators / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009375:Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000601:surgery; D009652:Norpregnenes / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000601:surgery; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal; D020847:Estrogen Receptor Modulators; D009652:Norpregnenes; C027385:tibolone