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08/12/2004
New drug better for older women with breast cancer
Research data published in The Lancet has shown that there is a better treatment available for breast cancer in post-menopausal women than the one currently recommended.
The study found that anastrazole, marketed as Arimidex, which is much more expensive than the currently drug of choice tamoxifen, is both better at preventing the spread and return of breast cancer in older women.
The five-year trial known as ATAC (Arimidex, Tamoxifen, Alone or in Combination) found that while Tamoxifen was effective for hormone-responsive breast cancer, anastrazole was both more effective and had fewer side effects.
Researchers reported that anastrazole offered a 10% better survival rate in the five-year long trial that involved over 9,300 women. It also reduced the spread of cancer to other parts of the body by 14% and lowered the occurrence of cancer in the other breast by 40%. The time of any recurrence of cancer was also increased by 20%. They recommended that older women with breast cancer should be switched onto the new drug where appropriate.
Tamoxifen has been implicated in causing endometrial cancer and blood clotting disorders, though patients treated with anastrazole reported joint pains and experienced more bone fractures. Both drugs work by interfering with the female hormone ostroegen.
At around £1000 a year for a course of anastrazole, compared with around £25 a year for tamoxifen it is thought that it may be some time before the drug is offered free on the NHS.
(SP/MB)
The study found that anastrazole, marketed as Arimidex, which is much more expensive than the currently drug of choice tamoxifen, is both better at preventing the spread and return of breast cancer in older women.
The five-year trial known as ATAC (Arimidex, Tamoxifen, Alone or in Combination) found that while Tamoxifen was effective for hormone-responsive breast cancer, anastrazole was both more effective and had fewer side effects.
Researchers reported that anastrazole offered a 10% better survival rate in the five-year long trial that involved over 9,300 women. It also reduced the spread of cancer to other parts of the body by 14% and lowered the occurrence of cancer in the other breast by 40%. The time of any recurrence of cancer was also increased by 20%. They recommended that older women with breast cancer should be switched onto the new drug where appropriate.
Tamoxifen has been implicated in causing endometrial cancer and blood clotting disorders, though patients treated with anastrazole reported joint pains and experienced more bone fractures. Both drugs work by interfering with the female hormone ostroegen.
At around £1000 a year for a course of anastrazole, compared with around £25 a year for tamoxifen it is thought that it may be some time before the drug is offered free on the NHS.
(SP/MB)
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