Trial reportThe oncologist2019
Phase II Study of Dehydroepiandrosterone in Androgen Receptor-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer.
Trial report in The oncologist, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- Bicalutamide plus Aromatase Inhibitor in Patients with Estrogen Receptor-Positive/Androgen Receptor-Positive Advanced Breast Cancer.The oncologist · 2020Trial
- Current and future therapies for triple-negative breast cancer.Journal of hematology & oncology · 2026Review
- Article
- Review
- Research status of indole-modified natural products.RSC medicinal chemistry · 2023Review
- Effectiveness of Treatments That Alter Metabolomics in Cancer Patients-A Systematic Review.Cancers · 2023Review
- Androgen receptor in breast cancer: The "5W" questions.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2022Review
- Components of the human-specific, p53-mediated "kill switch" tumor suppression mechanism are usurped by human tumors, creating the possibility of therapeutic exploitation.Cancer drug resistance (Alhambra, Calif.) · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
20 authors at 8 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
lessons learnedThe androgen receptor (AR) is present in most breast cancers (BC), but its exploitation as a therapeutic target has been limited.This study explored the activity of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), a precursor being transformed into androgens within BC cells, in combination with an aromatase inhibitor (to block DHEA conversion into estrogens), in a two-stage phase II study in patients with AR-positive/estrogen receptor-positive/human epidermal growth receptor 2-negative metastatic BC.Although well tolerated, only 1 of 12 patients obtained a prolonged clinical benefit, and the study was closed after its first stage for poor activity.
backgroundAndrogen receptors (AR) are expressed in most breast cancers, and AR-agonists have some activity in these neoplasms. We investigated the safety and activity of the androgen precursor dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in combination with an aromatase inhibitor (AI) in patients with AR-positive metastatic breast cancer (MBC).
methodsA two-stage phase II study was conducted in two patient cohorts, one with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive (resistant to AIs) and the other with triple-negative MBC. DHEA 100 mg/day was administered orally. The combination with an AI aimed to prevent the conversion of DHEA into estrogens. The main endpoint was the clinical benefit rate. The triple-negative cohort was closed early.
resultsTwelve patients with ER-positive MBC were enrolled. DHEA-related adverse events, reported in four patients, included grade 2 fatigue, erythema, and transaminitis, and grade 1 drowsiness and musculoskeletal pain. Clinical benefit was observed in one patient with ER-positive disease whose tumor had AR gene amplification. There was wide inter- and intra-patient variation in serum levels of DHEA and its metabolites.
conclusionDHEA showed excellent safety but poor activity in MBC. Although dose and patient selection could be improved, high serum level variability may hamper further DHEA development in this setting.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.