Predictive value of serum medroxyprogesterone acetate concentration for response in advanced or recurrent breast cancer

Medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) is one of the most commonly prescribed drugs for endocrine therapy of metastatic breast cancer. In this study, the serum MPA concentration was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and evaluated for its usefulness in predicting the response in 79 cases of advanced or recurrent breast cancers. Overall, 29 patients (37%) achieved an objective response. The response rate correlated significantly with the oestrogen receptor (ER) status (P = 0.03), proliferative activity determined by DNA polymerase α (P = 0.04), the disease-free interval (DFI) (P = 0.05) and the serum MPA concentration (P < 0.001). Patients with ER-positive tumours, lower proliferative activity, a longer (DFI) or a higher serum MPA concentration responded more frequently. The mean serum MPA concentration in the responders with ER-positive tumours (P = 0.01) or tumours with a lower proliferative activity (P = 0.008) were significantly lower than in cases with ER-negative tumours or tumours with a higher proliferative activity, respectively. Cases with soft tissue metastases showed responses at significantly lower MPA concentrations (P = 0.003) than those with bone or visceral metastases. Furthermore, there was a dramatic decrease in the MPA concentration when a responder with a high concentration became unresponsive to the therapy. Thus, the serum MPA concentration is a determining factor for the response to treatment.