|Articles|December 1, 2003

Cover Story: Preventing breast Ca with aromatase inhibitors

With new research showing that aromatase inhibitors can dramatically cut the risk of recurring breast cancer, patients will probably have many questions about drugs like anastrozole and letrozole. Two experts review the scientific evidence on these valuable agents.

 

Cover Story

Preventing breast Ca with aromatase inhibitors

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Choose article section... A crash course on the history of aromatase inhibitors AIs as a new strategy for treating breast Ca AIs for adjuvant therapy Halted clinical trial and the future of breast Ca treatment Countering bone loss in chemoprevention with AIs Conclusions Key points

By Mohamed F. Mitwally, MD, PhD, and Robert F. Casper, MD

With new research showing that aromatase inhibitors can dramatically cut the risk of recurring breast cancer, patients will probably have many questions about drugs like anastrozole and letrozole. Two experts review the scientific evidence on these valuable agents.

 

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Aromatase inhibitors recently made front-page news when an international clinical trial was stopped in its tracks. The investigators found powerful evidence to show that letrozole greatly reduces a postmenopausal woman's chance of having breast cancer recur. As a result, this third-generation aromatase inhibitor (AI) is opening up a new treatment option for women who've completed 5 years on tamoxifen, the current gold standard therapy for survivors of early-stage breast cancer.

What's less well-known is that aromatase inhibitors—which block estrogen synthesis—may also offer a promising alternative to a poles-apart procedure—the standard treatment for ovulation induction. (More on that topic next month.)

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