Tamoxifen for relapse of ovarian cancer. Cochrane Collaboration review (abstract)

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: We are unable to make any evidence-based recommendations as we found no comparative studies assessing the effectiveness of tamoxifen in women with recurrent ovarian cancer. There is limited evidence on anti-tumour activity from phase 2 studies, but these contain no data on the effect of tamoxifen on symptom control, QOL or the prolongation of life.

Plain language summary

No evidence to suggest tamoxifen benefits patients with relapsed ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer often spreads before symptoms show. Cytotoxic drugs are often only partly effective and cause severe side-effects. The main aims of treatment for relapsed disease are symptom control and prolongation of life. No data from RCTs or non-RCTs were found, so there was no evidence that tamoxifen was effective and safe as a treatment for relapsed ovarian cancer. Laboratory studies suggest tamoxifen may be effective as a treatment for women with ovarian cancer. Although, uncontrolled non-comparative trials on patients with relapsed ovarian cancer showed tamoxifen may shrink or stabilise tumours in a small number, there is a strong need for an RCT or good quality non-randomised comparative studies to determine the effectiveness and safety of tamoxifen in terms of overall survival, tumour response, symptom control, quality of life and adverse events.