Journal
ENDOCRINE-RELATED CANCER
Volume 28, Issue 1, Pages R11-R30Publisher
BIOSCIENTIFICA LTD
DOI: 10.1530/ERC-20-0335
Keywords
breast; endocrine therapy; estrogen receptor; hormone structure/function; SERM
Categories
Funding
- National Institutes of Health MD Anderson Cancer Center Support Grant [CA016672]
- George and Barbara Bush Foundation for Innovative Cancer Research
- Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT)
- Dallas/Ft. Worth Living Legend Chair of Cancer Research
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Following the approval of oral contraceptives, the pharmaceutical industry sought new opportunities for reproductive regulation, leading to the discovery of the compound ICI 46,474 for the treatment of breast cancer. Despite initial patent setbacks in the USA, tamoxifen eventually found success in treating breast cancer, becoming a major advancement in cancer therapy.
Following the discovery and approval of the oral contraceptive, the pharmaceutical industry sought new opportunities for the regulation of reproduction. The discovery of the first non-steroidal anti-oestrogen MER25, with antifertility properties in laboratory animals, started a search for 'morning-after pills'. There were multiple options in the 1960s, however, one compound ICI 46,474 was investigated, but found to induce ovulation in subfertile women. A second option was to treat stage IV breast cancer. Although the patent for ICI 46,474 was awarded in the early 1960s in the UK and around the world, a patent in the USA was denied on the basis that the claims for breast cancer treatment were not supported by evidence. A trial at the Christie Hospital and Holt Radium Institute in Manchester, published in 1971, showed activity compared with alternatives: high-dose oestrogen or androgen treatment, but the US Patent Office was unswayed until 1985! The future of tamoxifen to be, was in the balance in 1972 but the project went forward as an orphan drug looking for applications and a translational research strategy was needed. Today, tamoxifen is known as the first targeted therapy in cancer with successful applications to treat all stages of breast cancer, male breast cancer, and the first medicine for the reduction of breast cancer incidence in high-risk pre- and post-menopausal women. This is the unlikely story of how an orphan medicine changed medical practice around the world, with millions of women's lives extended.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available