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De: PR Newswire
Brasil
Para: THERESA CATHARINA DE GÓES CAMPOS
Assunto: Clinical Experience for 'Arimidex' (anastrozole)
Passes Two Million Patient Years (i) Milestone
05 de junho de 2006 06:30 HORALOCAL
Clinical Experience for 'Arimidex' (anastrozole)
Passes Two
Million Patient Years (i) Milestone
Evidence Drives More Clinicians to Choose
anastrozole as Optimal
Hormonal Therapy for Postmenopausal Women With
Early Breast Cancer
MACCLESFIELD, England, June 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/
-- AstraZeneca
announced today, from the American Society of
Clinical Oncology
(ASCO) Annual Meeting, that anastrozole has this
month become the
first aromatase inhibitor (AI) to accumulate
over two million patient
years' clinical experience. Since the mature
results from the ATAC(i)
trial clearly established the superiority of
anastrozole over
tamoxifen in early breast cancer (1),
anastrozole has become the
world's most used AI.
Commenting on this treatment revolution, Dr.
Buzdar of the MD
Anderson Cancer Centre in Texas said: "When
deciding what's best for
our patients, we look to clinical evidence and
guidelines to lead our
choices. Anastrozole has consistently
demonstrated that it's more
effective and better tolerated than tamoxifen.
Guidelines are now
strongly recommending the use of an AI in early
breast cancer
patients and anastrozole has the most experience
and strongest
evidence. It's not surprising then, that doctors
are increasingly
choosing it to help their patients stay free
from breast cancer after
surgery, whilst avoiding some of the
unpredictable and sometimes
serious side effects that they risk with
tamoxifen."
Bone health in postmenopausal women taking
aromatase inhibitors
In recommending the use of AIs such as
anastrozole in early breast
cancer, recent treatment guidelines have also
highlighted that
additional evidence was needed regarding the
effect of AIs on bone
strength. A 5-year update from the ATAC
bone-sub-protocol, also
presented today at ASCO confirms that, if women
have a normal bone
mineral density (BMD) at the outset, they can
undergo a 5-year course
of treatment with anastrozole without the risk
of developing
osteoporosis(2). These data have generated much
excitement in the
medical community as it is the first time that
long-term data have
been available on the effects of an AI on bone.
Although a reduction in BMD does occur over the
5-year course of
treatment with anastrozole, the rate of bone
loss slows down
significantly after the first 2 years. Normal
reduction in BMD
associated with ageing is approximately 2-3%
over 5 years; the bone
loss seen with anastrozole is slightly higher (average,
6.1% in the
lumbar spine and 7.2% in the hip) but is not
significant enough to
lead to osteoporosis (bone loss of 15-20%).
Separate data have also
supported the fact that the rate of bone
fracture among women taking
anastrozole is comparable to the normal patient
population of that
age group (3,4). Clinicians who may have
previously been reluctant to
prescribe anastrozole, because of the
unconfirmed effect on bone, can
now be more confident that it not only offers
their patients a
significantly better chance of staying
cancer-free, any side effects
such as a reduction in bone strength are
predictable and manageable.
Switching from tamoxifen to anastrozole
Additional data presented at ASCO today further
support the benefits
of anastrozole over tamoxifen. Although it is
clear that
postmenopausal women with early breast cancer
gain the greatest
benefit from starting anastrozole treatment
immediately after
surgery, those who have already commenced
treatment with tamoxifen do
not have to miss out on the superior efficacy
and tolerability of the
newer drug. New data from the prospective 'Arimidex'-'Nolvadex'
95
(ARNO) study are the first data from a single
trial to confirm that
stopping tamoxifen and switching to anastrozole
can potentially save
lives(5). These data are consistent with
previous meta-analysis data
from three trials [presented at SABCS(iii)
2005](6) which also
demonstrated an improvement in overall survival
among women who
switched treatments.
"It's reassuring to know that the data for
anastrozole continue to
justify the confidence that we as clinicians
already have in
selecting it as the optimal treatment for our
postmenopausal early
breast cancer patients. The increasing evidence
base for AIs
continues to confirm that tamoxifen is not the
most effective or safe
drug we can offer our patients to keep them free
from recurrence,"
concluded Dr Buzdar.
References
1. ATAC Trialists' Group. Lancet 2005; 365:
60-62.
2. Coleman R. Proceedings of the American
Society of Oncology (ASCO),
2006. Abs 511.
3. Fisher B et al. J Natl Cancer Inst 1998; 90:
1371-1388.
4. Women's Health Initiative Writing Group. JAMA
2002; 288: 321-333
5. Kaufmann M. Proceedings of the American
Society of Oncology
(ASCO),
2006. Abs 547.
6. Jonat W. Proceedings of the San Antonio
Breast Cancer Symposium,
2005
Notes to Editors
(i) Patient years calculations: Patient takes
one tablet per day and
there are 365 days per year.
Therefore, total tablets sold since launch
divided by 365 = number of
patient years
(ii) ATAC Trial: 'Arimidex' Tamoxifen, Alone or
in Combination
(iii) SABCS: San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium
AstraZeneca is a major international healthcare
business engaged in
the research, development, manufacture and
marketing of prescription
pharmaceuticals and the supply of healthcare
services. It is one of
the world's leading pharmaceutical companies
with healthcare sales of
$23.95 billion and leading positions in sales of
gastrointestinal,
cardiovascular, neuroscience, respiratory,
oncology and infection
products. AstraZeneca is listed in the Dow Jones
Sustainability Index
(Global) as well as the FTSE4Good Index.
'Arimidex' is a trademark, the properties of the
AstraZeneca group of
companies.
For further information, please visit our
websites
http://www.astrazenecapressoffice.com and
http://BreastCancerSource.com
SOURCE AstraZeneca
06/05/2006
CONTACT: Lynn Grant, Global PR Director,
Oncology, of AstraZeneca,
Direct Line, +44-1625-517-406, or Mobile,
+44-7715-484-917, or
Lynn.Grant@Astrazeneca.com; or Elly Brookes,
Mobile,
+44-7768-553-210, or elly.brookes@shirehealthinternational.com,
or
Sara Singer, Mobile, +44-7881-810-328, or
sara.singer@shirehealthinternational.com, both
of Shire Health
International /
Web site: http://www.astrazenecapressoffice.com
http://BreastCancerSource.com
BNED: NG
FONTE: PR NEWSWIRE LATIN AMERICA
CORAL GABLES - MIAMI-US
CONTATOS: USA-MARY D'LEON
BRASIL-NÉLIA GARCIA
TELS: USA:1-305-507-2550/BRASIL:55-21-2132-8461
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PALAVRA-CHAVE: RJ
PALAVRA-CHAVE/RAMO DE ATIVIDADE: SAÚDE
PALAVRA-CHAVE/EMPRESA: ASTRAZENECA
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