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New Drug May Increase Breast Cancer Survival
New research shows that a new drug called an aromatase inhibitor may boost the survival rate of post menopausal women who suffer from breast cancer. It has show to be a good improvement over the current tamoxifen therapy.
The Italian study switched women taking the tamoxifen therapy to the aromatase inhibitor 2 to 3 years into the normal 5 year regiment. According to the results, there was improved performance of the aromatase inhibitors. This means that not only is it more efficient at fighting cancer, it will also allow users to avoid the adverse side affects such as endometrial cancer and strokes created by the other medication
Dr. Gary M. Freedman, a radiation oncologist at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia said,"There's still a lot of questions that remain, but this study confirms that five years of tamoxifen alone is really becoming the wrong answer for most postmenopausal women. At this point, you have to say that aromatase inhibitors are in the mix of treatment at some
point."
According
the HealthDay News, Tamoxifen has been in widespread use among survivors for the last two decades. The drug is typically taken after
surgery, because it targets the hormone estrogen, which can promote tumor cell
growth in women with estrogen-sensitive breast cancer. A standard five-year treatment
of tamoxifen has been found to reduce death rates by as much as 31 percent.
Tamoxifen must still undergo
many tests and trials before it will even be considered for approval. But it
is definitely a step in the right direction not to just find a new better cure,
but to also realize where our current treatments fall short.
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