Tamoxifen for the treatment of metastatic inflammatory breast carcinoma

In this series, 65 patients with metastatic inflammatory breast carcinoma were treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by local regional treatment followed by adjuvant chemotherapy. All of these selected patients developed further metastatic disease and were treated at that time with tamoxifen alone. Measurements of hormone receptor levels were available for 46 patients. Four tumors were positive estrogen receptors and eight tumors were positive progesterone receptors. The objective response rate for tamoxifen therapy was 5% (3/65). No major side effects were observed. When the metastasis-free interval was over 19 months, the overall survival and after metastases survival rates were significantly increased. Our conclusion is that tamoxifen should not play any role in the palliative treatment of metastases in inflammatory breast carcinoma.