Anti-Estrogen Therapy Achieves Complete Remission and Stability in Recurrent Cervical Cancer: A Case Study

BACKGROUND Studies using transgenic mouse models have demonstrated that estrogen is necessary for the development of cervical cancer, particularly in tissues responsive to estrogen. Estrogen also protects cervical cancer cells from apoptosis, suggesting its role in the survival and persistence of cancer cells. CASE REPORT An 84-year-old woman with diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and stage III chronic renal failure was diagnosed with cervical squamous cell carcinoma, FIGO stage IB2. She underwent complete concurrent chemoradiotherapy, but central recurrence was found 9 months later. However, instead of salvage chemotherapy, substitutionary anti-estrogens were given due to her poor medical condition and advanced age. Complete remission was noted after tamoxifen therapy. Since the cervical cancer relapsed again 40 months after tamoxifen use, the anti-estrogen therapy was shifted to letrozole. The SCC-Ag level decreased dramatically after letrozole therapy, and disease stability was achieved until 29 months afterward. After 5 years and 9 months of anti-estrogen use only, the patient died due to noncancer-related pneumonia and heart failure. CONCLUSIONS This report demonstrates the tumor-stabilizing and therapeutic effect of anti-estrogens in the treatment of squamous cervical carcinoma. Further clinical trials are warranted to evaluate the efficacy of anti-estrogen therapy in cervical cancer patients.