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news.Novartis' breast cancer therapy, Femara, has performed well in a major study, with results showing it to provide better disease free survival than tamoxifen in the treatment of early breast cancer.
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In the study, post-surgical use of Femara (letrozole tablets) in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive early breast cancer demonstrated a significant 19% reduction in risk of relapse, reducing the risk that the cancer would spread to other parts of the body by 27%, compared with the reductions offered by tamoxifen.
The trial, named BIG 1-98, demonstrated a particularly strong disease free survival advantage for patients at the highest risk of breast cancer recurrence in the adjuvant (post-surgery) setting, such as those with node-positive early breast cancer (cancer that already spread to lymph nodes at the time of diagnosis), and those who have received prior chemotherapy. These women are more likely to develop distant metastases and, therefore, may be at greater risk of dying from their disease.
“The biggest fear of women who have battled breast cancer is that their breast cancer might return,” said Dr Beat Thurlimann, scientific secretary general at the Therapy of Early Breast Cancer Senology Center of Eastern Switzerland. “Convincing results from this very large study show that letrozole tablets help more women remain cancer free when compared to tamoxifen.”