Table 5.

Experimental and clinical studies of hormonal therapy to treat vulvar cancer.

Name of Hormone	Formulation Name and Dose	Observation Time	Study Model	Results	References
Estrogen, progesterone	Hormone replacement therapy	12 months	7189 women	Significantly decreased the proportion of women receiving at least one HRT prescription. The majority of vulvar cancers are not estrogen-dependent, and the prescription of HRT is not contraindicated after the diagnosis of this type of cancer	[139]
ER modulator	Oral ospemifene 60 mg/day	12 weeks	605 women	Effective for the treatment of vulvar and vaginal atrophy and cancer in postmenopausal women with dyspareunia	[140]
ER modulator	BZA 20 mg/CE 0.625 mg and 0.45 mg, BZA 20 mg	12 weeks	Healthy postmenopausal women (n = 664; aged 40–65 y)	Effective in treating moderate to severe VVA and vaginal symptoms.	[141]
Estrogen and ER modulator	Conjugated estrogens 0.625 mg and 0.45 mg/BZA 20 mg	2 years	1583 and 1583 postmenopausal women respectively	Conjugated estrogens/BZA provides endometrial protection without increasing breast pain/density, vaginal bleeding, or ovarian cysts	[75]
Estrogen and ER modulator	BZA 20 mg/CE 0.45 or 0.625 mg, BZA 20 mg.	12 weeks	Postmenopausal, non-hysterectomized women (n  =  652) with symptoms of moderate to severe vulvar/vaginal atrophy	Shown to significantly improve sexual function and quality-of-life measures in symptomatic postmenopausal women	[142]
Estradiol	Vaginal 4 μg and 10 μg estradiol (E2)	12 weeks	25 eligible women	Because of endometrial progesterone receptor expression, vaginal E2 would not be expected to stimulate endometrial hyperplasia leading to moderate to severe dyspareunia which is a symptom of vulvar and vaginal atrophy and cancer	[143]
Selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)	7.5 mg oral paroxetine or placebo daily	16 weeks	80 women	Paroxetine significantly reduced hot flashes in weekly frequency and severity in gynecological cancer survivors	[144]