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Breast Cancer Treatment Drug Aromasin Significantly Reduces Risk
- Women have a new option to prevent breast cancer as a recent major study find exemestane (Aromasin) significantly cuts the risk of developing breast cancer.
Now women at risk of developing breast cancer have a new option to prevent the disease. A recent study revealed Aromasin, by Pfizer Inc., cuts the risk of developing breast cancer by more than half.
A study of healthy women was conducted using hormone-blocking pills call aromatase inhibitors. These pills are sold as Aromasin, Femara and Arimidex as well as in generic form. Currently they are used to prevent recurrences in breast cancer patients who are past menopause. Physicians speculated for a long time whether these drugs could also prevent the disease.
Prevention drugs for breast cancer are only recommended for higher risk patients. The two choices to prevent the disease are raloxifene and tamoxifen. These drugs have more risks than Aromasin, such as the possibility of blood clots or uterine cancer.
The study involving Aromasin as a prevention drug was discussed on Saturday during the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago. The study was also published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The San Francisco Gate reports Dr. Allen Lichter, chief of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, said, “Here’s a third breast cancer prevention drug that may in fact be safer.”
The study included 4,560 women from the United States, France, Spain and Canada. All of the women had at least one high risk factor such as a prior breast abnormality or a high score on a scale measuring family history. Daily doses of Aromasin or dummy pills were administered.
During the three years of the study, 11 cases of invasive breast cancer were reported among the women on Aromasin. Alternatively, 32 women taking the dummy pills developed invasive breast cancer. According to the study results, there was a 65 percent reduction for women taking the drug.
According to CNN, Dr. Paul Goss, a breast cancer specialist at Boston Massachusetts General Hospital, said, “We proved hat exemestane (Aromasin) reduced the risk of invasive breast cancer by 65%.”
Studies performed in the past showed tamoxifen reduced the risk of older women developing breast cancer by 50 percent. Raloxifene, a drug used for oseteoporosis, reduces the risk by 38%. The drug were administered for five years. Goss indicated exemestane has fewer side effects than tamoxifen.
Associate director of Massachusetts General’s Cancer Center, Dr. Jose Baselga, did not participate in the research but warned about the side effects of Aromasin. “Aromatase inhibitors do have side effects and they are significant.”
Possible side effects include bone loss, arthritis and hot flashes from taking the drugs. He also indicated 94 women were treated with the drug before one was prevented from getting breast cancer. For these reasons, Balsega would “limit it to patients who have very high risks.”
The study reported the women who took Aromasin had no serious side effects and experienced “minimal changes in health-related quality of life.”
Referensi: http://www.huliq.com/10559/breast-cancer-treatment-drug-significantly-reduces-risk
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- Women have a new option to prevent breast cancer as a recent major study find exemestane (Aromasin) significantly cuts the risk of developing breast cancer.
Now women at risk of developing breast cancer have a new option to prevent the disease. A recent study revealed Aromasin, by Pfizer Inc., cuts the risk of developing breast cancer by more than half.
A study of healthy women was conducted using hormone-blocking pills call aromatase inhibitors. These pills are sold as Aromasin, Femara and Arimidex as well as in generic form. Currently they are used to prevent recurrences in breast cancer patients who are past menopause. Physicians speculated for a long time whether these drugs could also prevent the disease.
Prevention drugs for breast cancer are only recommended for higher risk patients. The two choices to prevent the disease are raloxifene and tamoxifen. These drugs have more risks than Aromasin, such as the possibility of blood clots or uterine cancer.
The study involving Aromasin as a prevention drug was discussed on Saturday during the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago. The study was also published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The San Francisco Gate reports Dr. Allen Lichter, chief of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, said, “Here’s a third breast cancer prevention drug that may in fact be safer.”
The study included 4,560 women from the United States, France, Spain and Canada. All of the women had at least one high risk factor such as a prior breast abnormality or a high score on a scale measuring family history. Daily doses of Aromasin or dummy pills were administered.
During the three years of the study, 11 cases of invasive breast cancer were reported among the women on Aromasin. Alternatively, 32 women taking the dummy pills developed invasive breast cancer. According to the study results, there was a 65 percent reduction for women taking the drug.
According to CNN, Dr. Paul Goss, a breast cancer specialist at Boston Massachusetts General Hospital, said, “We proved hat exemestane (Aromasin) reduced the risk of invasive breast cancer by 65%.”
Studies performed in the past showed tamoxifen reduced the risk of older women developing breast cancer by 50 percent. Raloxifene, a drug used for oseteoporosis, reduces the risk by 38%. The drug were administered for five years. Goss indicated exemestane has fewer side effects than tamoxifen.
Associate director of Massachusetts General’s Cancer Center, Dr. Jose Baselga, did not participate in the research but warned about the side effects of Aromasin. “Aromatase inhibitors do have side effects and they are significant.”
Possible side effects include bone loss, arthritis and hot flashes from taking the drugs. He also indicated 94 women were treated with the drug before one was prevented from getting breast cancer. For these reasons, Balsega would “limit it to patients who have very high risks.”
The study reported the women who took Aromasin had no serious side effects and experienced “minimal changes in health-related quality of life.”
Referensi: http://www.huliq.com/10559/breast-cancer-treatment-drug-significantly-reduces-risk
