Hydroxyprogesterone caproate therapy in advanced endometrial cancer

In 314 women with advanced progressing adenocarcinoma of the uterine corpus (endometrial cancer) no longer responding to established anticancer measures, hydroxyprogesterone caproate1 Hydroxyprogesterone caproate, 17-alpha-hydroxy-progesterone-n-caproate; Delalutin, E. R. Squibb and Sons, Inc., New York, N.Y. (1.0 or more g/week intramuscularly for 4 or more weeks) induced an objective response (averaging 20 months in duration) consisting of regression in 30.2% or arrest of the disease in 6.8%. These responders survived an average of 27 months, four times as long as the nonresponders. The incidence of responders was significantly greater in patients with slowly growing tumors and in those treated for 12 or more weeks. Neither the objective response rate nor the duration of survival was influenced significantly by the age of the patient, the amount of hydroxyprogesterone caproate per week, the site of neoplastic metastasis or recurrence, the type of previous anticancer therapy, or presence of concomitant established anticancer therapy. Hydroxyprogesterone caproate (up to 7.0 g/week) was safe and well tolerated; undesirable manifestations occurred infrequently.