Medical adrenalectomy in patients with advanced breast cancer resistant to anti-oestrogen treatment.

Fifty-three women with actively progressing advanced breast cancer, who had all previously received tamoxifen, were treated with aminoglutethimide to induce medical adrenalectomy. Sixty-nine percent of the patients who had previously responded to tamoxifen subsequently responded to aminoglutethimide, while thirty-five percent of the nonresponders to tamoxifen subsequently responded to aminoglutethimide. The median duration of remission to aminoglutethimide was 12 months with a range from 4 to 22 + months. The drug was well tolerated and would appear to be the treatment of choice in tamoxifen responsive cases of advanced breast cancer.