Letroxole

Doctors have made the first breakthrough in the treatment of ovarian cancer in 20 years by proving that a common breast cancer drug can significantly cut relapse rates. Tests using an anti-oestrogen drug on a small group of 44 patients extended some of their lives by up to three years and delayed the use of painful chemotherapy for others. If larger trials repeat the findings it will be the first new therapy since the 1980s for a cancer which is often deadly because early diagnosis is so difficult.

John Smyth, professor of medical oncology at the University of Edinburgh, said: "This is a landmark. Despite intense scientific research over the past 20 years, there have been few new leads in our understanding of how this disease operates. But this study suggests that the addition of hormone therapy to our treatment strategy could extend and improve the lives of women with cancer."

Previous studies had all but written off Letroxole as a potential treatment because its impact was too small. But this study carefully selected women whose cancers were the most sensitive to oestrogen.

read more at http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/jun/15/health.cancer