In vivo and in vitro antiestrogenic action of 3-hydroxytamoxifen, tamoxifen and 4-hydroxytamoxifen.

This study demonstrates in vivo and in vitro properties of the non-steroidal antiestrogens tamoxifen (TAM), 4-OH-tamoxifen (4-OH-TAM) and 3-OH-tamoxifen (K 060 E). In immature rabbit uteri 4-OH-TAM and K 060 E bound to the respective estrogen receptors with a ten-fold higher affinity than TAM. Furthermore, K 060 E exhibited less agonistic (estrogenic) but higher antagonistic (antiestrogenic) activity in the immature rat uterus than TAM and 4-OH-TAM (change of uterine weight). The ratio of agonistic vs antagonistic effect of K 060 E was distinctly lower than in TAM and 4-OH-TAM. In addition, K 060 E reduced by approximately 45% the growth of the transplantable Fisher rat mammary tumor (R 3230 AC) as compared with TAM (33%). We assume that, due to the higher antitumor activity, K 060 E (3-OH-TAM) is a better antiestrogen than TAM.