Benefits of Estrogen-Receptor Downregulators (ERDs)
The only estrogen-receptor downregulator (ERD) is Faslodex (chemical name: fulvestrant). Faslodex is an option for post-menopausal women with advanced (metastatic) breast cancer that is hormone-receptor-positive and has stopped responding to other anti-estrogen therapy.
Two trials (in North America and European) of Faslodex showed the following benefits:
- About 17–20% of women taking Faslodex had a partial or complete response. This means the cancers' rate of growth slowed, the cancers stopped growing, or the cancers shrank. This response rate is similar to what has been seen with Arimidex.
- The response lasted an average of five and a half months. After that time, Faslodex stopped working, and the disease progressed. The length of time it took for the disease to progress was about the same with Arimidex.
Faslodex offers a benefit to post-menopausal women with metastatic (advanced) hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer whose cancer has progressed on either tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors or who cannot take other hormonal medications (possibly because of other medical conditions).
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