Latest studies hint at survival advantage with aromatase inhibitors in early breast cancer.

The trial designs were generally similar. Arimidex-Nolvadex (ARNO) 95 trial included 979 women who were randomly assigned after 2 years of tamoxifen to either 3 additional years of tamoxifen or 3 years of anastrozole. The Italian Tamoxifen Arimidex (ITA) trial included 448 women who were randomly assigned after 2 – 3 years on tamoxifen to either tamoxifen or anastrozole for 2 – 3 years. In the Austrian Breast and Colorectal Cancer Study Group (ABCSG) trial, 2579 women were randomly assigned immediately after their primary surgery to receive 5 years of tamoxifen therapy or 2 years of tamoxifen followed by 3 years of anastrozole. Only the women who were event free at the 2-year point were included in the meta-analysis. With a median follow-up of 30 months for all patients in the meta-analysis, 92 (4.6%) of 2009 patients treated with anastrozole had disease recurrence, as did 159 Latest Studies Hint at Survival Advantage With Aromatase Inhibitors in Early Breast Cancer