Study confirms letrozole's benefits
Treatment with letrozole (Femara) in women with breast cancer who have been previously treated with tamoxifen reduces the risk of recurrence, newly analysed data from an earlier trial has confirmed.
An international study called the MA.17 trial was halted in 2003 when
interim data showed that the risk of recurrence of breast cancer was
significantly less in women taking letrozole
after standard tamoxifen therapy (PJ, 18 October 2003, p536). Letrozole’s licence was
extended to include this indication last year.
Complete analysis of the data now confirms that women taking letrozole
2.5mg daily for a median of 30 months following five years’ tamoxifen
treatment had a risk of recurrence almost 5 per cent lower than those
taking placebo. Women in the letrozole group also had a 39 per cent reduction
in the risk of metastasis. Among lymph node-positive patients, overall
survival also improved with letrozole treatment.
The researchers say that although more hormone-related side
effects were seen in women in the letrozole group, incidences of bone
fractures and cardiovascular events were the same in both groups. They
conclude that use of adjuvant letrozole should be discussed with all
postmenopausal women completing standard adjuvant tamoxifen therapy (Journal
of the National Cancer Institute 2005;97:1262).
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