Therapeutic value of nafoxidine hydrochloride in the treatment of advanced carcinoma of the human breast.

Nafoxidine hydrochloride can provide additional palliation to patients who responded to previous endocrine ablation and had tumors containing an estrogen receptor. In the present study, 24 patients were evaluated for their response to nafoxidine therapy, 180 to 240 milligrams given orally per day. When tumor response was obtained, doses were reduced to 60 to 120 milligrams every other day or longer without loss of control. In the estrogen receptor positive group, eight of ten patients responded objectively to nafoxidine, while all seven estrogen receptor negative patients progressed with this therapy. These results demonstrated that nafoxidine is effective in the treatment of estrogen receptor positive cutaneous disease. These results demonstrated that nafoxidine is effective in the treatment of estrogen receptor positive cutaneous disease. Patients with lesions to other sites should receive cytoxic agents along with nafoxidine. Alternative therapy to nafoxidine should be considered for patients in whom the tumors contain negligible estrogen receptor.