[Hormone therapy using tamoxifen in unresectable carcinoma of the pancreas--preliminary study]

In 1981 Greenway and co-authors reported the existence of estrogen receptor in tumor tissue of the pancreas. We have tried hormone therapy using tamoxifen in 4 of 11 patients with unresectable carcinoma of the pancreas in whom expandable metallic stents were inserted for the palliation of obstructive jaundice. The mean survival period in these 4 patients was 235 days, and 2 of them had a remarkably long survival of 321 and 463 days respectively. On the other hand, the mean survival was 128 days in 7 control patients. We therefore evaluated this new therapy with tamoxifen as effective in patients with unresectable carcinoma of the pancreas.