breast cancer in postmenopausal women. Raloxifene originally failed as a breast cancer drug due to its poor performance in comparison to tamoxifen in the laboratory but the estrogenic effects of raloxifene on bone led to its rediscovery and approval in 1997. It was approved for prevention and treatment of osteoporosis and was the first clinically available SERM to prevent both osteoporosis and breast cancer. Ospemifene was approved on February 26, 2013, for the treatment of moderate to severe dyspareunia, which is a symptom, due to menopause, of vulvar and vaginal atrophy. Combined therapy with conjugated estrogens and the SERM bazedoxifene, was approved on October 3, 2013, for the treatment of vasomotor symptoms linked with menopause. Bazedoxifene is also used in the prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis. The search for a potent SERM with bone efficacy and better bioavailability than raloxifene led to the discovery of lasofoxifene. Although lasofoxifene was approved in 2009, it was not marketed for three years following the approval, so the marketing authorization for it has expired. In Europe, bazedoxifene is indicated for the treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women at increased risk of fracture while in India ormeloxifene has been used for dysfunctional uterine bleeding and birth control. See also Estrogen deprivation therapy List of selective estrogen receptor modulators Selective androgen receptor modulator Selective estrogen receptor degrader Selective receptor modulator Timeline of cancer treatment development References External links AACR Cancer Concepts Factsheet on SERMs STAR: a head-to-head comparison of tamoxifen and raloxifene as breast-cancer preventatives Femarelle official site Raloxifene (Evista) official site Hormonal antineoplastic drugs Progonadotropins