The clinical research of goserelin combined endocrine therapy in premenopausal advanced breast cancer

Background and purpose:The treatment for premenopausal advanced breast cancer is still not satisfactory.Ovarian suppression is an effective treatment because luteinising hormone releasing hormone(LHRH) agonists,like goserelin,have been shown to produce the same effective ovarian function suppression as surgical oophorectomy or ovarian irradiation does.The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of goserelin in combination with endocrine therapy for advanced breast cancer in premenopausal women with positive hormone receptors.Methods:Thirty cases were selected to undergo goserelin in combination with endocrine treatment while another 30 cases that were not treated with goserelin served as the control group.The Kaplan-Meier survival method and log-rank method were used to test for significant differences.Results:For both the treatment and control group,the median time to progression were 47.9 months and 16.7 months,respectively.The 1,2 and 3-year progression-free survival rate(PFS) were 86.7% vs 58.9%,73.0 % vs 43.1% and 62.6% vs 38.3%,respectively(P=0.039).The 1,2 and 3-year overall survival rate(OS) were 100% vs 83.3%,82.9% vs 57.5%,79.1% vs 48.9%(P=0.010) for the treatment group and control group,respectively.For those in the treatment group with an age of 40 years,PFS(P=0.027) and OS(P=0.007) were significantly longer than ones in the control group but there was no effect on the prognosis for patients ≥ 40 years.There is a potential OS benefit for those who continued to use goserelin after the disease has progressed again because the median survival time for them was significantly longer that in non users(28.2 months vs 7.0 months)(P=0.070).Conclusion:For premenopausal hormone receptor positive advanced breast cancer patients,goserelin when combined with endocrine therapy can be used as the standards for endocrine treatment for patients 40 years.This study recommended the continued usage of goserelin for patients with the reprogression of the disease.