Variations in plasma concentrations of tamoxifen metabolites and the effects of genetic polymorphisms on tamoxifen metabolism in Korean patients with breast cancer

Inter-individual variation in tamoxifen metabolism in breast cancer patients is caused by various genetic and clinical factors. We measured the plasma concentrations of tamoxifen and its metabolites and investigated genetic polymorphisms influencing those concentrations. We measured the concentrations of tamoxifen, endoxifen, N-desmethyltamoxifen (NDM), and 4-hydroxytamoxifen (4-OH tamoxifen) in 550 plasma specimens from 281 breast cancer patients treated with tamoxifen. Duplicate or triplicate specimens were obtained from 179 patients at 3-month intervals. In 80 patients, genotyping for tamoxifen metabolizing enzymes was performed using the DMET Plus array and long-range PCR. Plasma concentrations of tamoxifen and its metabolites showed wide variations among patients. The following genetic polymorphisms were associated with the plasma concentrations when body mass index and tamoxifen concentrations were considered as co-variables: CYP1A2 -2467delT, CYP2B6 genotype, CYP2D6 activity score (AS), and FMO3 441C>T. CYP2D6 AS and three variants in the SULT1E1 gene showed correlation with ratios of tamoxifen metabolites. CYP2D6 AS was the only variable that showed associations with both metabolite concentration and ratio: endoxifen (P < 0.001), NDM (P < 0.001), endoxifen/NDM (P < 0.001), NDM/tamoxifen (P < 0.001), and 4-OH tamoxifen/tamoxifen (P = 0.005). Serial measurements of 448 plasma concentrations in 179 patients at 3-month intervals showed wide intra-individual variation. Our study showed that genetic polymorphisms can in part determine the baseline concentrations of tamoxifen and its metabolites. However, marked intra-individual variations during follow-up monitoring were observed, and this could not be explained by genotype. Therefore, serial measurements of tamoxifen and its metabolites would be helpful in monitoring in vivo tamoxifen metabolic status.