Interview
with Neil Love, MD from Breast Cancer Update for Medical Oncologists,
Program 1 2000
Play
Audio Below:
There
are two trials. There is a North American trial and there is an
international trial. And the most conservative interpretation on
both of them is that Arimidex and tamoxifen are equivalent in the
first-line treatment of hormonally responsive advanced breast cancer.
And that’s the most conservative statement you can make and,
as you know, the American study actually shows some benefit to Arimidex
compared to tamoxifen in terms of time to progression. The European
trial, which included a lot of women who were not estrogen-receptor
positive, or at least known to be positive, is a much more difficult
trial to interpret. But even in that study they were equivalent.
And what this means is, again, alternatives - hormonal alternatives
for postmenopausal women who have metastatic breast cancer front-line.
We have always known that Arimidex is as good as anything second-line.
But we now have front-line data. The other important point is that
it justifies the examination of Arimidex and anastrozole in the
adjuvant setting in a comparison with tamoxifen. And that study
was just completed, the ATAC trial, and so, I think that is very
exciting.
Critique
of survival update analysis from two phase III anastrozole clinical
trials. Buzdar, A. U.; Wood; Wolter; Vogel; Bland, and Ravdin. Annals
of Surgical Oncology. 6(8 Suppl S):8S-11S, 1999 Dec.No abstract
