Aromasin

Aromasin (chemical name: exemestane) has been used for many years as a treatment for post-menopausal women with advanced disease that is hormone-receptor positive. Learn more about Aromasin, an aromatase inhibitor, for early-stage breast cancer. In October 2005, the FDA approved Aromasin for use as adjuvant treatment in women with early-stage, hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer after taking two or three years of tamoxifen. "Adjuvant" means it can be used after your first cancer treatments, such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation.

In the IES study, nearly 5,000 post-menopausal women with hormone-receptor-positive, early-stage breast cancer took tamoxifen for two to three years. About half then switched to Aromasin, which they took for another two to three years (for a total of five years of hormonal therapy). The remaining women stayed on tamoxifen for a total of five years. The researchers noted how many women in each group had the cancer come back, how many developed a new cancer in the other breast, and how long both groups lived without the cancer coming back.

The study is still ongoing. Early results showed that switching to Aromasin significantly reduced women's risk of recurrence and improved their disease-free survival compared to taking the standard five years of tamoxifen. The FDA's October 2005 approval of Aromasin in women with early-stage, hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer was based on these results.