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Molecular Biology of the Estrogen Receptor Aids in the Understanding of Tamoxifen Resistance and Breast Cancer Prevention with Raloxifene

  • Conference paper
Adjuvant Therapy of Primary Breast Cancer VI

Part of the book series: Recent Results in Cancer Research ((RECENTCANCER,volume 152))

Abstract

Tamoxifen (Nolvadex) (Fig. 1), a nonsteroidal antiestrogen, is the endocrine treatment of choice for all stages of breast cancer. The drug has ten million women-years of clinical experience and is described by the World Health Organization as an essential treatment for breast cancer. The clinical pharmacology of tamoxifen has been studied in great detail because it is currently being tested as a preventive for breast cancer in high-risk women (Jordan 1993). This strategy is based on three important facts. Firstly, tamoxifen prevents rat mammary carcinogenesis (Jordan 1974, 1976). Secondly, tamoxifen reduces the incidence of contralateral breast cancer (Cuzik and Baum 1985) and, thirdly, when the preliminary studies were started in 1986 (Powles et al. 1989), tamoxifen was believed to have a low incidence of side effects (Furr and Jordan 1984).

This article is dedicated to Professor E. V. Jensen on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the first report of the specific binding of estrogen in estrogen target tissues. These studies were supported by the NIH grant CA-56143. The author is grateful for the continuing support of the Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Foundation of Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Robert H. Lurie Cancer Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    V. C. Jordan

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  1. V. C. Jordan
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Zentrum für Tumordiagnostik und Prävention, Rorschacherstrasse 150, CH-9006, St. Gallen, Switzerland

    Hans-Jörg Senn

  2. Dana Farber Cancer Institute Biostatistics, 44 Binney Street, Boston, 02115, USA

    Richard D. Gelber Ph.D

  3. Ospedale Civico, CH-6900, Lugano, Switzerland

    Aron Goldhirsch

  4. Klinik C für Innere Medizin Abteilung für Onkologie und Hämatologie, Kantonsspital St. Gallen, CH-9007, St. Gallen, Switzerland

    Beat Thürlimann

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© 1998 Springer-Verlag Berlin · Heidelberg

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Jordan, V.C. (1998). Molecular Biology of the Estrogen Receptor Aids in the Understanding of Tamoxifen Resistance and Breast Cancer Prevention with Raloxifene. In: Senn, HJ., Gelber, R.D., Goldhirsch, A., Thürlimann, B. (eds) Adjuvant Therapy of Primary Breast Cancer VI. Recent Results in Cancer Research, vol 152. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-45769-2_25

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-45769-2_25

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-45771-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-45769-2

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