Da. Kantorowitz et al., EFFECT OF CONJOINT ADMINISTRATION OF TAMOXIFEN AND HIGH-DOSE RADIATION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF MAMMARY-CARCINOMA, International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics, 26(1), 1993, pp. 89-94
Citations number
35
Categorie Soggetti
Oncology,"Radiology,Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Purpose: Tamoxifen is currently advocated for post-menopausal breast c
ancer patients receiving definitive irradiation after limited surgery.
The purpose of this study was to assess in an experimental model for
breast cancer whether the efficacy of irradiation is altered by conjoi
nt administration of tamoxifen. To this end, rats with small tumors in
duced by 1-methyl-1-nitrosourea (MNU) were treated with tamoxifen, rad
iation, or a combination of the two modalities. Methods and Materials:
Female Sprague Dawley rats were injected i.p. with 50 mg MNU/kg body
weight at 50 days of age. At 64 days post carcinogen, the majority of
the rats had at least one palpable mammary tumor. At that time radiati
on with or without tamoxifen treatment was initiated and given 5 days
per week for 5 weeks. Radiation dose was 4500 cGy delivered as 25, 180
cGy fractions. Tamoxifen, 500 mg/kg body weight, was administered sub
cutaneously each day during the irradiation interval. The study was te
rminated 28 weeks after carcinogen treatment. Results: High dose radia
tion alone induced a reduction in the size of existing tumors, but res
ulted in a significant increase in the number of tumors that were dete
cted. Treatment with tamoxifen alone also caused a reduction in tumor
volume, but had no effect on final incidence or number of mammary tumo
rs. Combined modality treatment resulted in a significant reduction in
the volume of existing tumors and suppressed the enhanced occurrence
of additional tumors observed when only radiation alone was administer
ed. Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that in the contex
t of fractionated, high dose radiation treatment of established mammar
y cancers, tamoxifen may reduce the likelihood of subsequent tumor dev
elopment and by so doing prove a helpful simultaneous conjoint adjuvan
t treatment to post-operative irradiation.