Researchers affiliated with the BIG-98 trial comparing Femara® (letrozole) to Nolvadex® (tamoxifen) have reported that longer follow-up confirms the superiority of Femara in postmenopausal women with early, hormone-positive breast cancer. The details of this follow-up study were presented at the 2006 annual European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) meeting in Istanbul in October.

Femara is an aromatase agent that is approved for first-line treatment of postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive or hormone receptor-unknown locally advanced breast cancer; metastatic breast cancer; advanced breast cancer in postmenopausal women with disease progression following anti-estrogen therapy; and as neo-adjuvant therapy. It is also approved for extended adjuvant therapy in early breast cancer, following 5 years of treatment with Nolvadex, based on phase III clinical trial results. Several clinical trials are ongoing to help elucidate optimal timing and/or sequencing of aromatase agents and Nolvadex in the treatment of hormone-positive women with breast cancer in the adjuvant setting, and it appears that aromatase agents are providing superior results to those of Nolvadex in several settings in the treatment of hormone-positive breast cancer.


Posted by: Jessica    Source

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