Who benefits from hormone therapy?
Not all hormone receptor (HR)-positive tumors respond to hormone therapy, although hormone therapy has brought significant benefits to breast cancer patients. In order to improve the efficacy of hormone therapy, a variety of new approaches are currently being tested in such as extended adjuvant therapy, selection of responders using array-based techniques and combination therapy with signal transduction inhibitors. It is therefore necessary to distinguish between highly hormone responsive tumors and relatively less hormone sensitive tumors. Through reviewing recent outcomes of clinical trials, these issues are summarized and discussed in this review.
Toi
Masakazu
M
Department of Clinical Trial and Research, Tokyo Metropolitan Cancer and Infectious Disease Center, Komagome Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
Iino
Yuichi
Y
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D047072:Aromatase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D015412:Mastectomy, Segmental / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009376:Neoplasms, Hormone-Dependent / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D011379:Prognosis; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000032:analysis*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal; D047072:Aromatase Inhibitors; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases