Anastrozole was effective and well tolerated for adjuvant treatment of early, hormone-sensitive breast cancer in postmenopausal patients in a large, randomized trial.
These findings suggest that anastrozole is another treatment option for postmenopausal patients with newly diagnosed, early hormone-responsive breast cancer.
Ongoing studies are evaluating potential benefits of switching patients from tamoxifen to anastrazole, according to Dr. J. Houghton and colleagues of the Arimidex, Tamoxifen Alone or in Combination (ATAC) Trialists' Group, London.
The trial involved 9,366 patients with invasive, operable breast cancer who had completed primary therapy and were randomized to receive anastrazole alone (3,125 patients), tamoxifen alone (3,116 patients), or a combination of the two (3,125 patients).
After a median of 33 months follow-up, 89% of those in the anastrozole group, 87% of those in the tamoxifen group, and 87% of those in the combination group were disease free, they said.
The improvement in the anastrozole group over the other groups was significant but occurred only in hormone-receptor-positive patients.
Furthermore, the incidence of primary contralateral breast cancer was lower in the anastrazole group than the tamoxifen and combination groups, with a risk reduction of 58%, they said (Lancet 359[9324]:2131-39, 2002).
Anastrozole was well tolerated in this study, with fewer patients in that group than the two other groups developing endometrial cancer or experiencing vaginal bleeding and discharge, venous thromboembolic events, cerebrovascular events, or hot flushes.
Patients in the tamoxifen groups developed fewer musculoskeletal disorders and fractures.
COPYRIGHT 2002 International Medical News Group
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group
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