Influence of polymorphism of enzymes of the UDP family-glucuronyl transferases on the biotransformation of tamoxifen in the therapy of luminal forms of breast cancer
Authors: Yurchenko P. O. , Shkarupa V. M. , Kachula S. O. , Kakarkin O. Y. , Kovalchuk A. P. , Kovalchuk B. P. , Pechevystiy O. M. , Filchukov D. O. 
Published: January 2024

Annotation. Tamoxifen (TAM) (1-[4-(2-dimethylaminoethoxy)-phenyl]-1,2-diphenylbut-1(Z)-ene) is a non-steroidal selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM), which is recognized as the "gold standard" of hormone therapy for estrogen-dependent breast cancer (BC). It is known that adjuvant treatment with TAM increases recurrence-free survival and overall survival in patients with hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer. Also, tamoxifen manifests itself as a partial estrogen agonist, which can be associated with the development of complications such as endometrial cancer, venous thromboembolism, etc. The presence of resistance and relapses during TAM therapy, which reach up to 30%, remains an actual problem. Therefore, studying the mechanisms underlying the individualization of both therapeutic effect and toxicity associated with TAM remains an important challenge. In the detoxification of both TAM and its active metabolites, glucuronidation processes, which belong to the second phase of biotransformation of xenobiotics and actively take place in the liver as well as in the mammary gland, play an important role, and therefore the study of this process can contribute to the understanding of the interindividual variability of the therapeutic effect and toxicity of TAM. The aim – to analyze the data of the scientific literature on the study of the influence of glucuronyltransferase (UGT) enzymes and their polymorphic forms on the biotransformation of TAM and its active metabolites in the treatment of hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer. A retrospective analysis of the literature of scientific databases Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed., MedLines for 2013-2023 was carried out. It is possible to draw the following conclusions that UGT isozymes are responsible for the conjugation and detoxification of tamoxifen and its metabolites in the form of glucuronides 4-OH-tamoxifen-N-glucuronide, 4-OH-tamoxifen-O-glucuronide and endoxifen-O-glucuronide. UGT1A8, UGT1A10, UGT2B7, UGT2B15 and UGT2B17 isoforms played the greatest role in glucuronidation of tamoxifen and its active metabolites, but UGT1A4 was recognized as the main one. Depending on the content of active TAM metabolites and their glucuronides in the blood plasma, it can be stated that carriers of the UGT2B15 Lys523Thr and UGT2B17del alleles demonstrated increased enzyme activity, and individuals with one variant UGT2B15 523Thr allele can even be considered superactive metabolizers of 4-OH-tamoxifen-O- glucuronide and endoxifen-glucuronide. Also, high levels of 4-OH-tamoxifen-N-glucuronide were observed in carriers of the allele of the UGT2B17del genotype. Carriers of the above alleles have high activity of glucuronidation processes and low levels of active metabolites of TAM, which calls into question the rationality of prescribing TAM as hormone therapy. In contrast, patients with UGT1A4 48Val, UGT2B7 268Tyr alleles, or with wild-type genotypes for UGT2B17 nodel and UGT2B15 523Lys, will have high levels of active metabolites and are the group of choice for tamoxifen therapy in estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer because they will have a low rate of glucuronidation and detoxification. However, in order to create a system of clinical algorithms for the formation of tamoxifen-sensitive groups of patients, further detailed study of other possibilities of the biotransformation system in the metabolism of tamoxifen is required.