Does Elizabeth Edwards still post here? New meds news from the BBC.

[Southsideirish]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/health/default.stm

Week at a Glance Health Contents: Medical notes Wednesday, 8 December, 2004, 07:52 GMT
Advance in breast cancer treatment
Image of tamoxifen Older women with early breast cancer should be put on a different drug from the current gold standard, say experts.

Five-year data in the Lancet show anastrozole is better at preventing the spread and return of cancer than tamoxifen in postmenopausal women.

Such women should be put on the drug immediately and any on tamoxifen switched, the authors recommend.

But at about £1,000 a year compared to £20-30 for tamoxifen, it may be some time before it is free on the NHS.

" It is not appropriate to wait to start an aromatase inhibitor. "
Lead investigator Professor Anthony Howell

'I switched drugs'

Earlier trial results of anastrozole (Arimidex) versus tamoxifen suggested the newer drug would be superior in some women.

Tamoxifen is still a good treatment option for many women with breast cancer, however.

First line therapy

Currently, women with breast cancer that is responsive to hormonal treatment and who have gone through the menopause are advised to take tamoxifen for five years.

However, tamoxifen can have side effects, including cancer of the womb lining and blood-clotting disorders, and there is still a chance that the breast cancer can spread or return.

Anastrozole is approved for use in any such woman who is unable to take tamoxifen therapy because she has a high risk of experiencing these side effects.

The ATAC trial findings now suggest that the drug should be used by all postmenopausal women with hormone-responsive breast cancer.

In the trial, more than 9,000 such women with cancer confined to the breast were given either tamoxifen or the aromatase inhibitor anastrozole for five years.

" Women already taking tamoxifen should be assured that the treatment is very effective. "
Sue Green, CancerBACUP senior cancer information nurse

Compared with tamoxifen, anastrozole increased disease-free survival by over 10% and increased the time to cancer recurring by around 20%.

It also reduced the chance of the cancer spreading around the body or occurring in the other breast by 14% and over 40%, respectively.

The women taking anastrozole had fewer side effects, although they did report more bone fractures and joint pain than the women taking tamoxifen.

Both anastrozole and tamoxifen work by interfering with the female hormone oestrogen.

Tamoxifen prevents the growth-promoting action of oestrogen on breast cells by blocking a molecule called the oestrogen receptor.

Anastrozole shuts down the production of oestrogen.

Lead investigator Professor Anthony Howell, from the Christie Hospital NHS Trust in Manchester, said earlier results had suggested that it was reasonable to switch patients currently on tamoxifen to an aromatase inhibitor.

"However, these new data from the ATAC trial suggest that it is not appropriate to wait to start an aromatase inhibitor.

Licence change?

"The higher rates of recurrence, and the increased numbers of adverse events and treatment withdrawals associated with tamoxifen, lend support to the approach of offering the most effective and well tolerated therapy at the earliest opportunity."

(Go to link for rest of article)

[Liberty Belle]

1. I don't know, why don't you send it to her?

Does John Edwards still have a website? If not, send c/o Kerry.

[Southsideirish]

2. I sent it to his Senate site, too but 'thought she might be reading DU

herself.