Join the 'Aromasin' group to help and get support from people like you. How it works

Aromasin Blog

Blog (13)

Risk of Death From Certain Breast Cancers May Rise With Age

Posted 7 Feb 2012 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, Feb. 7 – The risk of dying from a hormone receptor-positive breast cancer increases with age, according to new research. And one reason might be that older women with breast cancer are undertreated compared to their younger peers. For women between the ages of 65 and 74, the risk of dying from breast cancer was 25 percent higher than for women under 65. For those 75 and older, the risk of death was 63 percent higher than for women under 65, according to the new study. "This study showed that among postmenopausal, non-metastatic, breast cancer patients, elderly patients have a higher risk of dying from breast cancer than younger patients," said study author Dr. Cornelis van de Velde, a professor of surgery at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands and president of the European Cancer Organization. Results of the study are published in the Feb. 8 issue of the ... Read more

Breast Cancer Drug May Weaken Bones, Study Finds

Posted 7 Feb 2012 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, Feb. 7 – A drug used to prevent breast cancer in women at high risk for the disease appears to cause bone loss in some postmenopausal women, a new study finds. The drug, Aromasin (exemestane), has been shown to reduce the odds of breast cancer by 65 percent, but it also worsens bone density by about three times in older women who are taking it, Canadian researchers report. "The drug did affect bone density at the hip and spine," said lead researcher Dr. Angela Cheung, a senior scientist at the University Health Network in Toronto. "It does not affect everyone; about 65 percent of women have some bone loss." The fear of bone loss is not a reason not to take the drug, Cheung said. "You really need to pay attention to your bone health when you take this medication, especially for preventing breast cancer." However, for women who are at high risk for fractures, other drugs should ... Read more

Related support groups: Breast Cancer, Aromasin, Exemestane, Breast Cancer, Prevention

Anti-Estrogen Treatment Shrank Lung Tumors in Mice

Posted 9 Jan 2012 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, Jan. 9 – Combination drug treatment that targets estrogen production significantly reduced the number of tobacco carcinogen-related lung tumors in mice, a new study shows. "Anti-estrogens have been shown to prevent breast cancer in some women," Jill Siegfried, a professor in the department of pharmacology and chemical biology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, said in an American Association for Cancer Research news release. "If anti-estrogens can prevent lung cancer as well, this would be a major advance, because these drugs are safe to give for long periods and there are no approved ways to prevent lung cancer," she added. Most lung cancers have a type of estrogen receptor that makes tumors grow when they're exposed to estrogen. In addition, aromatase, an enzyme in the lung, produces estrogen. Siegfried and her team found that blocking this estrogen receptor ... Read more

Side Effects Cause Many Older Women to Drop Breast Cancer Drugs

Posted 12 Dec 2011 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, Dec. 12 – Severe side effects may be key to why so many older breast cancer patients stop taking drugs that can help prevent a tumor's return, a new study finds. The research also revealed a large gap between what these breast cancer patients tell their doctors about drug side effects and what they actually experience, according to the study authors from Northwestern University in Chicago. Their study included 686 postmenopausal women with estrogen-sensitive breast cancer who were asked about their symptoms before treatment with estrogen-blocking drugs called aromatase inhibitors, which include medications such as Arimidex, Aromasin and Femara. The women were tracked at three, six, 12 and 24 months after starting treatment. After three months, about one-third of the patients had severe joint pain, 28 to 29 percent had hot flashes, nearly one-quarter had decreased libido, 15 to ... Read more

Related support groups: Breast Cancer, Femara, Arimidex, Aromasin, Anastrozole, Letrozole, Exemestane, Testolactone, Teslac

Two New Drug Combos May Fight Advanced Breast Cancers

Posted 7 Dec 2011 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 7 – Breast cancer researchers report they are heartened by the results of two new studies that show combination therapies might improve survival for women with two different types of advanced tumors. One of the drugs, everolimus (Afinitor), boosted progression-free survival in women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer but is not yet approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for this indication. The other drug, pertuzumab (Omnitarg), improved survival with HER-2 positive tumors, but has not received any FDA approval. So, the immediate clinical implications are probably "none," said Dr. Jose Baselga, lead author of both studies, which are to be presented at the 2011 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium Wednesday and published simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine. In time, though, they could be "practice-changing," said Baselga, chief of ... Read more

Related support groups: Breast Cancer, Aromasin, Exemestane, Afinitor, Everolimus, Zortress

Targeted Drugs, Lung CT Screening Top Cancer Advances in 2011

Posted 6 Dec 2011 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, Dec. 6 – As the war against cancer continues, a group representing U.S. oncologists has picked its "Top Five" list of advances in cancer care for 2011. Leading the list are approvals for a bevy of new, targeted drugs for tough-to-treat malignancies, plus promising results suggesting CT chest scans may be an early-detection screen for lung cancer. The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) this week issued its annual report on progress against cancer. The report was published online Dec. 5 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. "The big news has been targeted drug therapy," noted Dr. Nicholas Vogelzang, head of the section of genitourinary cancer at the Nevada Cancer Institute in Las Vegas and co-executive editor of the report. "We now have drugs that are very selective for some solid tumors. We now have [new] drugs affecting melanoma and lung cancer, which is pretty ... Read more

Femara May Beat Tamoxifen at Preventing Breast Cancer's Return

Posted 24 Oct 2011 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, Oct. 21 – The breast cancer drug letrozole, marketed as Femara, may be more effective than tamoxifen at preventing the return of breast cancer and improving survival among older women with hormone-sensitive breast cancers, a new study reports. In the study, published online Oct. 21 in The Lancet Oncology, the researchers updated data from an ongoing study of about 8,000 women, which compares the two drugs alone as well as the use of both Femara and tamoxifen sequentially. Femara outperformed tamoxifen in terms of breast cancer recurrence and survival, the study found. Moreover, giving Femara alone to women was more effective than giving it sequentially following tamoxifen. The new study was partially funded by Novartis, the drug company that makes Femara. The hormone estrogen feeds hormone-sensitive cancers, and blocking it may help stave off a recurrence. Femara is part of a ... Read more

Cancer Patients Should Ask Doctors to Use Simple Terms

Posted 28 Sep 2011 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 28 – Cancer patients are often faced with many difficult-to-understand treatment choices that can have serious side effects and even mean the difference between life and death. That's why it's crucial that patients insist doctors use plain language in explaining the options, advised Angela Fagerlin, an associate professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School and a researcher at the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center. "People are making life and death decisions that may affect their survival and they need to know what they're getting themselves into. Cancer treatments and tests can be serious. Patients need to know what kind of side effects they might experience as a result of the treatment they undergo," Fagerlin said in a university news release. She and her colleagues outlined a number of tips to help patients get the information they need ... Read more

Aromasin Reduced Breast Cancer Risk in Postmenopausal Women

Posted 5 Jun 2011 by Drugs.com

SATURDAY, June 4 – The anti-estrogen drug Aromasin appears to cut the odds of breast cancer by 65 percent in high-risk postmenopausal women, new research has found. And unlike other anti-estrogen therapies such as tamoxifen and raloxifene, Aromasin (exemestane) did not carry a heightened risk of endocrine cancer or blood clots, although it did have the well-known problems of hot flashes and joint stiffness also attributable to tamoxifen and raloxifene, the study authors said. Estrogen is a primary fuel behind many breast cancers. "This may add another potential drug for these women," said Dr. Jennifer Litton, a breast medical oncologist with the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. "Hot flashes, joint stiffness were more pronounced but it [Aromasin] doesn't have the blood clot and uterine cancer risk." Aromasin, an aromatase inhibitor now available in generic ... Read more

Related support groups: Aromasin, Breast Cancer, Prevention

Breast Cancer Treatment May Lead to Hip Fracture

Posted 7 Feb 2011 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, Feb. 4 – Middle-aged breast cancer survivors face an increased risk for hip fractures, a condition normally uncommon in women younger than 70, a new study has found. Researchers at Northwestern University in Chicago say that this may be because early menopause caused by breast cancer treatment and the effects of breast cancer drugs could weaken the bones by the time women reach middle age. The finding came from a study of six women who had survived breast cancer and, in their early 50s, were being treated for hip fractures. Most of the women did not have osteoporosis, but they did have lower-than-normal bone mineral density (osteopenia). This suggests that rapid changes in bone architecture caused by chemotherapy, early menopause and adjuvant breast cancer therapy may not be detected on a bone mineral density test, said Dr. Beatrice Edwards, an associate professor of medicine ... Read more

Certain Breast Cancer Drugs Linked With Heart Risks in Older Women

Posted 9 Dec 2010 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Dec. 9 – Long-term use of aromatase inhibitors, drugs often prescribed to breast cancer patients, may increase the risk of heart problems for postmenopausal women, according to a Canadian researcher. ''There have always been suspicions," said Dr. Eitan Amir, senior fellow at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, who is scheduled to present the findings this week at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in Texas. In December 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration added a warning label to anastrozole, an aromatase inhibitor marketed as Arimidex, citing a potential increased risk for heart disease. Amir's team evaluated previously published studies to find out if other aromatase inhibitors also increased the risk of heart disease in postmenopausal women with breast cancer. ''We looked at seven trials which have compared aromatase inhibitors with tamoxifen,'' he said ... Read more

Related support groups: Femara, Arimidex, Aromasin, Anastrozole, Letrozole, Exemestane, Teslac, Testolactone

Experts Issue New Guidelines on Breast Cancer Drugs

Posted 13 Jul 2010 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, July 13 – A leading group of cancer experts has issued new guidelines on the best way to use two classes of hormone therapies for estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer, the most common form of breast tumor. After a systematic review of medical research on the subject, experts reported that adding an aromatase inhibitor – a drug that reduces the amount of estrogen produced in the body – has clearly been shown to reduce the number of tumor recurrences in postmenopausal women compared with the standard drug tamoxifen, which works by blocking the action of estrogen on cancer tumors that are estrogen-receptor positive. The committee preparing the guidelines recommended, therefore, that all postmenopausal women with this type of breast cancer use aromatase inhibitors either before or after tamoxifen. They also concluded that women could use them as long as five years after ... Read more

Osteoporosis Drug Seems to Shrink Breast Tumors

Posted 11 Dec 2008 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Dec. 11 – Researchers continue to test the mettle of breakthrough breast cancer drugs, three decades after tamoxifen changed the medical landscape by drastically reducing the risk of recurrences in women with estrogen receptor-positive tumors. Encouraging findings on several different drugs were presented Thursday at the CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in Texas. First in the line-up, the osteoporosis drug zoledronic acid (Zometa) appears to shrink breast tumors in patients who undergo chemotherapy. The drug is already approved to treat breast cancer that has spread to the bone and, earlier this year, was reported to lower the risk of breast cancer recurrence in pre-menopausal women with early estrogen- or progesterone-positive tumors. In an analysis of slightly more than 200 women, those who received Zometa in addition to chemotherapy had better results than ... Read more

Related support groups: Breast Cancer, Femara, Aromasin, Herceptin, Aclasta, Tykerb, Emblon

Ask a Question

Further Information

Related Condition Support Groups

Breast Cancer