Dec 14, 2005

It's Probably Never Too Late To Start Femara

This morning I was reading about this exciting study, which says that women may benefit from Femara (letrozole) even years after completion of five years of tamoxifen treatment.

This result came as a part of a new analysis of the placebo arm of the MA-17 trial, which was designed to see if women benefits from additional 5 years of treatment after completion of 5 years of tamoxifen. As a part of the study about half of patients received placebo and other half received the drug Femara.

In 2003, results of an interim analysis showed that Femara reduced the risk of breast cancer recurrence by 42 per cent compared to placebo. These data prompted unblinding of the study. Since then, approximately 1,655 women talking placebo have chosen to switch to Femara, while another 613 women did not pursue further treatment.

These women with hormone-sensitive early breast cancer who switched to Femara (letrozole) from placebo as discussed above experienced a 69 per cent reduction in the risk of recurrence. There also was a 72 per cent reduction in the risk of developing metastatic disease. This was also associated with a A 47 per cent reduction in the risk of dying from breast cancer.

The analysis represents the first time that an aromatase inhibitor has demonstrated a benefit in starting therapy up to five years after the end of a patient taking tamoxifen, another medicine used in the treatment of hormone-related breast cancers, claims a Novartis release.

This data provides evidence for the first time that women with breast cancer can benefit from Femara even years after the completion of tamoxifen therapy. This finding may have significant impact on the overall treatment outcomes for postmenopausal women with early breast cancer.


Sherin      

Do You Read All Of Our Cancer Blogs?

Do you read all of the blogs published by medicineworld.org? Many of our bloggers are busy keeping you updated on the various health related topics. We publish the following blogs at this time.

Cancer blog: I manage the cancer blog with lots of help and support form other bloggers. Through this cancer blog my friends and I try to bring stories of hope for patients with cancer. The cancer blog often republishes important blog posts from other cancer related blogs at Medicineworld.org. If you are searching for a blog that covers wide variety of cancer topics, this may be the one for you.

Breast cancer blog: Breast cancer blog is run by Emily and other bloggers and they bring you the latest stories, news and events that are related to breast cancer. Increasing awareness about breast cancer among women and in the general population is the main goal of this breast cancer blog.

Lung cancer blog: Lung cancer blog is managed by Scott with the help of other bloggers. Through this blog Scott and his friends constantly remind the readers about the dangers of smoking. It's a never-ending struggle against this miserable disease with which a social stigma of smoking is associated.

Colon cancer blog: Colon cancer blog is run by Sue and other bloggers. Sue brings a personal touch to the colon cancer blog since her mother died of colon cancer few years ago. She writes about stories, research news and advances in treatment related to colon cancer.

Prostate cancer blog: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among American men. American Cancer Society estimates that over 230,000 new cases of prostate cancer occur in the United state every year. This important blog about prostate cancer is run by Mark and other bloggers. This blog brings news, stories, and other personal observations related to prostate cancer.

Medicineworld.org publishes a diabetes watch blog and this blog is run by JoAnn other bloggers. This diabetes watch blog brings you the latest in the field of diabetes. This includes personal stories, advances in diagnosis and treatment, and other observations about diabetes. Improving awareness about diabetes is an important mission of this group.

Janet      

Breast cancer
Every year, more than 200,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States. Breast cancer ranks second as the leading cause of cancer deaths in American women. Until recently breast cancer topped the list of leading causes of cancer deaths in women, but lately lung cancer has claimed the top position. If skin cancer is excluded, breast cancer is the commonest cancer among American women.