High-dose corticosteroids in severe acute asthma
SIR,-In the light of recent articles concerning bromocriptine your leading article "Hormone receptors and breast cancer" (10 July, p 67) raises the possibility of the use of this drug to suppress the growth of prolactin-dependent breast tumours since, as you say, "the main peptide hormone implicated in promoting the growth of breast tumours is thought to be prolactin." The theoretical and to some extent substantiated fear of oestrogens and other hormones as carcinogenic agents should, however, perhaps now be extended to include other drugs which interfere with man's delicately balanced endocrine functions-for example, phenothiazines, methyldopa, and even indeed bromocriptine, which is used to suppress puerperal lactation, a physiological state which in itself affords some protection against breast cancer. PHILIP A KNOWLES