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Tamoxifen Goes Forward Alone

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Book cover Tamoxifen

Part of the book series: Milestones in Drug Therapy ((MDT))

Abstract

Tamoxifen (ICI 46,474), the trans isomer of a substituted triphenylethylene, was discovered in the fertility program at Imperial Chemical Industries, Pharmaceuticals Division, Cheshire, England. The plan was to use tamoxifen to regulate fertility, but this failed and interest refocused outside the company for applications to treat breast cancer. The initial application of the nonsteroidal antiestrogen was for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer in postmenopausal women and by the 1980s tamoxifen had replaced high-dose diethylstilbestrol therapy. Efficacy when compared with diethylstilbestrol was similar, but tamoxifen had fewer side effects. No other antiestrogens were developed by the pharmaceutical industry, as this was not considered a financially lucrative development strategy.

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  1. Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA

    Philipp Y. Maximov, Russell E. McDaniel & V. Craig Jordan

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  1. Philipp Y. Maximov
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  2. Russell E. McDaniel
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  3. V. Craig Jordan
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Maximov, P.Y., McDaniel, R.E., Jordan, V.C. (2013). Tamoxifen Goes Forward Alone. In: Tamoxifen. Milestones in Drug Therapy. Springer, Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-0664-0_2

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