title: Role of fulvestrant in the treatment of postmenopausal metastatic breast cancer patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Endocrine therapy is considered the cornerstone treatment for postmenopausal women with hormone-receptor positive metastatic breast cancer. Fulvestrant is a selective estrogen receptor down-regulator (SERD) with demonstrated activity and efficacy in the treatment of these patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  The present manuscript aims to review the mechanism of action of fulvestrant, the clinical efficacy data with the use of different dosages and schedules, and finally its role in association with other medications. Expert commentary: Fulvestrant is an active compound with an excellent safety profile for the treatment of women with hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer, The combination of fulvestrant with targeted agents showed increased efficacy and is expected to become a new standard treatment. Results of two clinical trials (i.e. the FALCON and FEVEX trials) are awaited to better clarify the place of fulvestrant in the armamentarium of the available therapies for the treatment of hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Medical Oncology, U.O. Oncologia Medica 2 , IRCCS AOU San Martino - IST , Genova , Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Poggio
authors.affiliation: a Department of Medical Oncology, U.O. Oncologia Medica 2 , IRCCS AOU San Martino - IST , Genova , Italy.|b BrEAST Data Centre, Department of Medicine , Institut Jules Bordet, and l'Université Libre de Bruxelles (U.L.B.) , Brussels , Belgium.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lambertini
authors.affiliation: a Department of Medical Oncology, U.O. Oncologia Medica 2 , IRCCS AOU San Martino - IST , Genova , Italy.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Blondeaux
authors.affiliation: c Department of Medical Oncology, U.O. Sviluppo Terapie Innovative , IRCCS AOU San Martino - IST , Genova , Italy.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vaglica
authors.affiliation: c Department of Medical Oncology, U.O. Sviluppo Terapie Innovative , IRCCS AOU San Martino - IST , Genova , Italy.
authors.forename: Alessia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Levaggi
authors.affiliation: a Department of Medical Oncology, U.O. Oncologia Medica 2 , IRCCS AOU San Martino - IST , Genova , Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pronzato
authors.affiliation: c Department of Medical Oncology, U.O. Sviluppo Terapie Innovative , IRCCS AOU San Martino - IST , Genova , Italy.
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Del Mastro
mesh_terms: D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D004958:Estradiol / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D065171:Estrogen Receptor Antagonists / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D000077267:Fulvestrant; D006801:Humans; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D017698:Postmenopause; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal; D065171:Estrogen Receptor Antagonists; D000077267:Fulvestrant; D004958:Estradiol
keywords: Fulvestrant; endocrine resistance; endocrine therapy; metastatic breast cancer; selective estrogen receptor downregulator (SERD)