title: Prospective assessment of the endometrium in postmenopausal breast cancer patients treated with fulvestrant.
abstract: This prospective study assessed the endometrial effects of fulvestrant, a pure estrogen-receptor antagonist, in postmenopausal women with breast cancer. This single-center study enrolled postmenopausal patients who had an intact uterus at baseline with progressive metastatic breast cancer on tamoxifen followed by an oral aromatase inhibitor (AI). Fulvestrant (250 mg) was administered every 28 +/- 3 days via IM injection. Transvaginal ultrasonography (TVUS) was performed at baseline and after 3 months of therapy. Primary and secondary endpoints were changes from baseline in double endometrial thickness (DET) and uterine volume (UV), respectively. No interventions were performed on any asymptomatic uterine abnormalities that were detected at baseline. In total, 32 women were enrolled. Five patients had no repeat TVUS because of early progression before 3 months, leaving 27 evaluable patients for final analysis. After 3 months therapy, mean DET had significantly decreased by 23.08% (P = 0.010). Mean UV also decreased by 10.88%, although this change was not significant (P = 0.119). After 3 months of therapy, none reported vaginal bleeding, there were no changes noted in most of the uterine pathologies present at baseline and no new uterine abnormalities were detected. We observed that 3 months of fulvestrant treatment resulted in a significant decrease in endometrial growth and a non-significant decrease in UV in postmenopausal women with metastatic breast cancer previously exposed to tamoxifen and AIs. Furthermore, no new uterine pathologies were detected, indicating that fulvestrant behaves as a pure antiestrogen at the uterine level.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Leilani
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Morales
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Neven
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Timmerman
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wildiers
authors.forename: Maja L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Konstantinovic
authors.forename: Marie-Rose
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Christiaens
authors.forename: Peter N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Paridaens
mesh_terms: D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004717:Endometrium / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000187:drug effects*; D019160:Endosonography; D004958:Estradiol / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D000077267:Fulvestrant; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D017698:Postmenopause
chemical_list: D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal; D000077267:Fulvestrant; D004958:Estradiol