Anastrozole superior to tamoxifen in post-menopausal breast cancer

Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 29 Nov 2003 - 0:00 PDT


The drug anastrozole is safer and more effective than tamoxifen for the treatment of early stage breast cancer in post-menopausal women.

Earlier results from the ATAC (Arimidex, Tamoxifen Alone or in Combination) trial, published this month in Cancer, show prolonged disease-free survival and time to recurrence in patients receiving anastrozole alone compared with those receiving tamoxifen alone or in combination with anastrozole.

The latest study assessed disease-free survival, time to recurrence, safety, and other measures in the same patient group as in the first analysis of the ATAC trial, based on a median follow-up period of 47 months.

Disease-free survival continued to be significantly longer with anastrozole treatment (86.9%) than with tamoxifen treatment (84.5%), the authors report, both overall and even more significantly among patients with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer.

Anastrozole continued to show a safety profile superior to that of tamoxifen, the results indicate, causing fewer hot flashes, less vaginal bleeding and discharge, and a lower incidence of endometrial malignancies, ischemic cerebrovascular events, and venous thromboembolic events.

'These updates confirm the value of anastrozole in this setting and provide additional support for the use of anastrozole as adjuvant therapy for postmenopausal women with hormone-sensitive early-stage breast cancer,' the authors conclude.

Reference: The ATAC (Arimidex, Tamoxifen Alone or in Combination) Trialists' Group (2003) Anastrozole alone or in combination with tamoxifen versus tamoxifen alone for adjuvant treatment of postmenopausal women with early-stage breast cancer- Results of the ATAC (Arimidex, Tamoxifen Alone or in Combination) trial efficacy and safety update analyses Cancer 98 (9)1802-1810

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