The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 277 No 7428 p626
25 November 2006

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Analysis suggests survival benefit for anastrozole switch

An overall survival benefit for women with hormone-sensitive early-stage breast cancer who are switched to anastrozole after adjuvant tamoxifen treatment is suggested by a meta-analysis published online last week (Lancet Oncology, 17 November 2006). Researchers examined data from three trials and found that switching to anastrozole after two to three years of tamoxifen treatment resulted in patients having fewer disease recurrences and deaths during follow up. This translated into improvements in disease-free survival (hazard ratio 0.59, 95 per cent confidence interval 0.48–0.74; P<0.0001) as well as overall survival (0.71, 0.52–0.98; P=0.04).

A review by the National Library for Health, published online on 20 November, points out that the meta-analysis did not assess quality of life and adverse events. The review concludes: “Owing to the limited reporting of the methodology and results of the individual trials, the poor search strategy and the lack of assessment of other relevant outcomes, the authors’ conclusions should be treated with caution.”