# Long-term control for > 9 years with megestrol acetate-letrozole: metastatic endometrioid carcinoma case report

**Authors:** Lixia Liu, Lina Ma, Lu Yang, Wenguang He

PMC · DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2026.1729721 · 2026-02-24

## TL;DR

A patient with advanced endometrial cancer had long-term disease stability using megestrol acetate and letrozole, suggesting a promising treatment approach.

## Contribution

This is the first case report showing durable antitumor activity with full-dose megestrol acetate plus letrozole in HR-high metastatic endometrial cancer.

## Key findings

- The patient achieved stable disease for over 9 years with megestrol acetate and letrozole.
- Disease progression occurred when the treatment was reduced, but resumed therapy restored stability.
- The treatment was well-tolerated with minimal toxicity over the long term.

## Abstract

Hormone receptor–positive (HR+) endometrial carcinoma (EC) responds to endocrine therapy, but clinical benefit duration is often limited, especially in patients with widely metastatic or recurrent disease.

A 54-year-old woman with HR-high (ER/PR 90%) metastatic EC (FIGO IIIC2) discontinued adjuvant chemotherapy due to severe toxicity. She initiated megestrol acetate and letrozole in March 2017, achieving stable disease (SD) for 38 months. Self-discontinuation (January–July 2020) led to disease progression (new retroperitoneal lymph nodes), but resuming full-dose therapy restored SD for 49 months. After dose reduction (July 2023), the disease progressed again at 12 months; re-escalation to full dose induced regression. At last follow-up (OS: 108 months), she maintained SD with minimal toxicity.

This is the first case demonstrating that full-dose megestrol acetate plus letrozole may induce durable antitumor activity in HR-high expression metastatic EC, warranting prospective validation.

## Linked entities

- **Chemicals:** letrozole (PubChem CID 3902)
- **Diseases:** endometrioid carcinoma (MONDO:0005026), endometrial carcinoma (MONDO:0002447)

## Full-text entities

- **Genes:** EREG (epiregulin) [NCBI Gene 2069] {aka EPR, ER, Ep}, PGR (progesterone receptor) [NCBI Gene 5241] {aka NR3C3, PR}, NR4A1 (nuclear receptor subfamily 4 group A member 1) [NCBI Gene 3164] {aka GFRP1, HMR, N10, NAK-1, NGFIB, NP10}
- **Diseases:** EC (MESH:D016889), toxicity (MESH:D064420), endometrioid carcinoma (MESH:D018269)
- **Chemicals:** megestrol acetate (MESH:D019290), letrozole (MESH:D000077289)
- **Species:** Homo sapiens (human, species) [taxon 9606]

## Figures

3 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12972746/full.md

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12972746