Antihormonal treatments in breast cancer in the woman. Role of estrogen antagonists

: Hormone treatment of breast cancer has been common practice for many years. More recently, findings on the hormonal mechanism of action on the target cells have provided a better approach of hormone-dependency and prognosis. Moreover, new hormonal synthetic molecules are now available. They are effective on specific activities of the endocrine system in well defined conditions. Administration of these drugs requires caution and previous evaluation of the patients' hormonal status conjugated to biological data of the tumor itself in view of obtaining efficient control of tumor growth.