Femara cuts risk of breast cancer returning

Swiss drug major Novartis says that women may reduce the risk of their breast cancer returning by starting treatment with Femara (letrozole) anywhere from one to seven years after finishing tamoxifen therapy, according to a new analysis published in the March 10 edition of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

The exploratory analysis of post-unblinding results from the landmark MA-17 trial, led by the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group, evaluated a subset of women in the original placebo group when the study was unblinded. The analysis shows that those who started Femara several years after completing the recommended five years of tamoxifen reduced their risk of breast cancer coming back by 63% compared to those who did not start Femara. In addition, the risk of cancer spreading to other areas of the body was reduced by 61%.

In the study, the median period before starting the drug was 31 months, Novartis noted. "The important message for women is that it may never be too late for many breast cancer survivors to do more to protect themselves against the ongoing risk of disease recurrence," said Paul Goss, lead investigator of MA-17 trial. "These data reinforce the need for women diagnosed with breast cancer to go back to their doctors and continue to discuss ways to reduce their risk of recurrence," he added.