Treatment Information

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Breast Cancer treatment details. Hormone.

University of California Irvine Medical Center, Orange, CA, United States.

Survival: monthsCountry:United States
Toxiciy Grade:5City/State/Province:Orange, CA
Treatments:HormoneHospital:University of California Irvine Medical Center
Drugs:Journal:Link
Date:Aug 2012

Description:

Patients:
This study involved postmenopausal women with previously untreated metastatic breast cancer who were divided into two separate treatment groups. Group A consisted of 345 patients with a median age of 65 years. Group B had 349 patients with a median age of 65 years.

Treatment:
Patients in group A were treated with the hormone therapy agent anastrozole, which inhibits a protein called aromatase and interferes with tumor growth.

Patients in group B were treated with anastrozole and the hormone therapy fulvestrant which inhibits the estrogen receptor to interfere with tumor cell growth.

Toxicities:
The most severe toxic effects in group A were of grade 4 and included blood clots, joint pain, thrombocytopenia, and shortness of breath.

There were three treatment-related deaths in group B due to blood clots and heart disorders. Grade 3 flu-like symptoms and joint pain were also reported.

Results:
The median overall survival for groups A and B was 41.3 and 47.7 months, respectively.

Support:
This study was partially supported by AstraZeneca.

Correspondence: Dr. Rita S. Mehta; email: rsmehta@uci.edu



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