ABSTRACT
I. INTRODUCTION Hormonal agents have been used in the treatment of advanced breast cancer for several decades. Over the last few decades substantial advances were made by the derivation of better-tolerated agents such as tamoxifen and the targeting of therapy by the measurements of estrogen receptor levels on patients’ tumors. The use of tamoxifen in early-stage disease has been of particular importance, since its use there has substantially improved survival and has been associated with a significant decline in breast cancer mortality rates in most developed countries. The reduction in contralateral breast cancer in patients treated with adjuvant tamoxifen stimulated investigations of its use in the prophylactic setting.
