New findings on Arimidex could change face of breast cancer treatment

AstraZeneca's Arimidex (anastrozole) should now be considered as afirst-choice, first-line therapy over tamoxifen for post-menopausal women with hormone-receptor positive advanced breast cancer, according to lead investigator Jacques Bonneterre, professor of medical oncology at the Centre Oscar Lambret in France.

The full results of a combined analysis of the study, published on November 1 in the peer-reviewed journal Cancer, involved 1,021 breast cancer patients, the largest patient population ever investigated to compare these two treatment options.

The study program involved two randomized, double-blind multicenter trials, one conducted predominantly in the UK and Europe and the second largely in North America, which compared daily treatment with anastrozole 1mg or tamoxifen 20mg in post-menopausal women with hormone-receptor positive or receptor unknown tumors. The results show that anastrozole was at least as effective as tamoxifen for first-line treatment.