[Clinical trial of high-dose medroxyprogesterone acetate in advanced breast cancer]

Sixty-two evaluable patients with advanced breast cancer were treated with medroxyprogesterone acetate (Farlutal. Erba) 500mg orally twice or three times a day. After thirty days, one patient had a complete response (1.6%), 33 patients had partial response (53.2%). 11 had stable disease (17.7%), and 17 progressive disease (27.4%). The response rates of bone, lung and chest wall metastasis were higher. And the older patients showed a better response than the younger. The response did not show significant correlation with KPS, menopausal status, disease-free intervals after operation, numbers of metastases and the dose of medroxyprogesterone acetate. The response rate in ER positive patients was higher than the ER negative, but the difference was not statistically different. The side effects of high-dose medroxyprogesterone acetate were well tolerated and the most common ones were weight gain and excessive perspiration.