Hello
Just seen on bottom of page 2 Fridays Daily Express brief details of a study that is in the Lancet Oncology regarding Letrozole.
It says that researchers in US compared Letrozole with Tamoxifen using each on its own.
It found that post-menopausal women on Letrozole were 20% less likely to suffer a return of cancer over an 8 year period and a 21% less likely to die.
I haven’t read the report in the Lancet yet but as I am now on Letrozole after 5 years of Tamoxifen and had been thinking that I want to stop taking it, I might think again.
Hazel
Here’s the Lancet article:
thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045%2811%2970270-4/abstract?rss=yes#
It’s a bit scientific but the interpretation section is okay. this is for postmenopausal women. the percentage differences in disease free survival and overall survival etc are small but it’s worth knowing.
Elinda x
Hazel - just reread your post and can’t work out where the 20% comes from. Would you be able to quote the article on here - is the 20% a difference between those on letrozole compared with tamoxifen OR is it 20% compared with no treatment? Elinda x
Elinda-Please find below the piece from the Daily Express
"A breast cancer drug that lowers oestrogen levels is far more effective than the most popular current therapy, a new study shows.
US researchers compared letrozole with tamoxifen, using each on its own.
They found post-menopausal women on letrozole were 20 per cent less likely to suffer a return of cancer over an eight-year period and 21 per cent less likely to die. The study is online today in The Lancet Oncology"
I don’t think the Express have explained it very well, probably why it was at the bottom of the page!
Thanks Hazel. I have a feeling that the article was a bit misleading. I’m not an expert but the way I read all this is that the 20% and 21% is not compared to tamoxifen. I think the difference between those two drugs is actually a very small percentage. Elinda x
Just to add that some of the funding came from Novartis.