title: Optimizing the use of neoadjuvant endocrine therapy.
abstract: Nowadays, neoadjuvant endocrine therapy is a clinically acceptable (and sometimes preferred) strategy in patients with operable estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer. Despite the overall effectiveness of endocrine therapy in breast cancer in all settings, de novo (primary) and acquired (secondary) endocrine therapy resistance remains a major clinical problem. Neoadjuvant endocrine therapy trials for breast cancer are not only a great opportunity to determine which ER+ breast cancers can be treated without chemotherapy, but also a great strategy to develop insights into the biologic basis for the efficacy of estrogen-receptor-targeting agents, alone or in combination, in an effort to counteract resistance to endocrine therapy and discover actionable molecular targets that can be the focus of future drug discovery efforts and/or translational/clinical investigation in ER+ breast cancers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Breast Cancer Research Program, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Laila S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Agrawal
authors.forename: Ingrid A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Mayer
mesh_terms: D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology; D020847:Estrogen Receptor Modulators / Q000378:metabolism*; D047628:Estrogen Receptor alpha / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy / Q000379:methods; D020360:Neoadjuvant Therapy / Q000379:methods; D013629:Tamoxifen / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C506487:ESR1 protein, human; D020847:Estrogen Receptor Modulators; D047628:Estrogen Receptor alpha; D013629:Tamoxifen