Diethylstilbestrol
Diethylstilbestrol was the first hormonal treatment for prostate cancer, standard from the 1940s, and was also given for breast cancer, before its cardiovascular harms and the cancers it caused in the daughters of women who took it in pregnancy ended its use.
Overview
Charles Huggins showed in 1941 that oestrogen or castration made prostate cancer regress, work that earned the 1966 Nobel Prize, and diethylstilbestrol became the standard hormonal therapy for advanced prostate cancer for four decades. It was also a palliative treatment for postmenopausal breast cancer. The Veterans Administration trials of the 1960s showed that the standard dose caused excess cardiovascular deaths, and its use in pregnancy was linked in 1971 to clear cell adenocarcinoma of the vagina in exposed daughters, the first transplacental carcinogen identified in humans. GnRH agonists and antiandrogens replaced it; low-dose or transdermal oestrogen is still studied in castration-resistant disease.
A non-steroidal oestrogen receptor agonist; in men it suppresses pituitary gonadotrophins and so testosterone, a chemical castration. Connects to Estrogen receptor (ERα).
1.Diethylstilbestrol acts on Estrogen receptor (ERα), the hormone receptor or the enzyme that makes the hormone.
- AmivantamabApproved
- CamizestrantApproved
- Comprehensive genomic profilingStandard of care
- Liquid biopsy (ctDNA)Standard of care
- LorlatinibApproved
- MRD / molecular residual disease testingEstablished
- ADC payload neutralisersPhase 1
- BGB-16673Phase 3
- Bispecific ADCPhase 3
- BRUIN CLL-321Positive
- CaDAnCe-304Recruiting
- CIRCULATE-Japan (GALAXY / VEGA / ALTAIR)Active
- A clone report from blood at every treatment cycle
- A fast route to the matched drug when it is licensed for another cancer
- A multi-cancer platform trial of adaptive (dose-holiday) therapy
- A national rapid research autopsy network for end-stage cancer
- A standard evolvability score for every tumour
- A standing platform trial that assigns treatment by how the tumour escaped
Background: ADC sequencing, Antigen escape (antigen loss, lineage switch), BCG-unresponsive, Castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), Circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA). Also on OnCo: Resistance atlas · Lines of therapy.
Trials
topTrials recruiting now
Country and place are remembered in this browser only. A postcode is sent to OpenStreetMap's Nominatim service to find coordinates when you press the button; nothing else leaves your device.
Latest papers
topQuery for this drug: (TITLE:"Diethylstilbestrol" OR ABSTRACT:"Diethylstilbestrol" OR TITLE:"Stilbestrol" OR ABSTRACT:"Stilbestrol" OR TITLE:"DES" OR ABSTRACT:"DES" OR TITLE:"Stilboestrol" OR ABSTRACT:"Stilboestrol" OR TITLE:"Honvan fosfestrol" OR ABSTRACT:"Honvan fosfestrol") AND (cancer OR tumor OR tumour OR oncology OR carcinoma OR lymphoma OR leukemia OR leukaemia OR myeloma OR sarcoma OR melanoma OR glioma). Results are unfiltered search hits about Diethylstilbestrol, not a curated reading list.
Similar pages
not linked directly; found by shared links- TreatmentFluoxymesterone
Shares Endocrine therapy (SERMs, AIs, SERDs), HR-positive / HER2-negative breast cancer and the tag chembl-universe.
- TreatmentFormestane
Shares Endocrine therapy (SERMs, AIs, SERDs), HR-positive / HER2-negative breast cancer and the tag chembl-universe.
- TreatmentAminoglutethimide
Shares Endocrine therapy (SERMs, AIs, SERDs), Prostate cancer, HR-positive / HER2-negative breast cancer and the tag chembl-universe.
- TreatmentHistrelin
Shares Endocrine therapy (SERMs, AIs, SERDs), Prostate cancer and the tag chembl-universe.
- TreatmentAbarelix
Shares Endocrine therapy (SERMs, AIs, SERDs), Prostate cancer and the tag chembl-universe.
- TreatmentBuserelin
Shares Endocrine therapy (SERMs, AIs, SERDs), Prostate cancer and the tag chembl-universe.
- TreatmentTechnetium Tc-99m sulfur colloid
Shares HR-positive / HER2-negative breast cancer and the tag chembl-universe.
- TreatmentCholine C-11
Shares Prostate cancer and the tag chembl-universe.