Designer Estrogens 
Getting all the benefits, few of the risks
Designer estrogens
now being tested may give women the benefits of hormone-replacement
therapy, like increasing bone density and reducing heart disease, while
avoiding the risks, such as breast and endometrial cancer.
References:
Baracat, E. . .
. and A. Negro-Vilar. 1999. Estrogen activity and novel tissue
selectivity of ∆8,9-dehydroestrone sulfate in
postmenopausal women. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology &
Metabolism 84(June):2020.
Love, R.R., et
al. 1992. Effects of tamoxifen on bone mineral density in
postmenopausal women with breast cancer. New England Journal of
Medicine 326(March 26):852.
Norris, J.D. . .
. and D.P. McDonnell. 1999. Peptide antagonists of the human estrogen
receptor. Science 285(July 30):744.
Paige, L.A. . .
. D.P. McDonnell, et al. 1999. Estrogen receptor (ER)
modulators each induce distinct conformational changes in ER a and ER
b . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 96(March
30):3999.
Sun, J. . . .
and B.S. Katzenellenbogen. 1999. Novel ligands that function as
selective estrogens or antiestrogens for estrogen receptor-a or
estrogen receptor-b . Endocrinology 140(February):800.
Further Readings:
Cummings, S.R., et
al. 1999. The effect of raloxifene on risk of breast cancer in
postmenopausal women. Journal of the American Medical Association
281(June 16):2189.
Franks, A.L., and
K.K. Steinberg. 1999. Encouraging news from the SERM frontier. Journal
of the American Medical Association 281(June 16):2243.
Hulley, S., et
al. 1998. Randomized trial of estrogen plus progestin for secondary
prevention of coronary heart disease in postmenopausal women. Journal
of the American Medical Association 280(Aug. 19):605. (Available at http://www.epibiostat.ucsf.edu/HERS/.)
Raloff, J. 1998.
Drug prevents some cancer, poses risks. Science News 153(April
11):228.
Seppa, N. 1999. Raloxifene imparts anticancer benefit. Science
News 155(June 19):388.
Sources:
Felicia Cosman
Helen Hayes Hospital
Department of Endocrinology
Route 9W
West Haverstraw, NY 10993
Adele L. Franks
Prudential Center for Health Care Research
2859 Paces Ferry Road, Suite 820
Atlanta, GA 30339
Benita S.
Katzenellenbogen
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology
524 Burrill Hall
407 South Goodwin Avenue
Urbana, IL 61801-3704
JoAnn E. Manson
Harvard Medical School
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
900 Commonwealth Avenue, East
Boston, MA 02215
Donald P.
McDonnell
Duke University Medical Center
Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology
Durham, NC 27710
Andrés Negro-Vilar
Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
10275 Science Center Drive
San Diego, CA 92121
Bert W. O’Malley
Baylor College of Medicine
Department of Cell Biology
Houston, TX 77030-3498
From Science
News, Vol. 156, No. 16, October 16, 1999, p. 252. Copyright © 1999,
Science Service. |