Latest Aromatase inhibitor Stories

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- The anti-estrogen breast cancer drug tamoxifen may reduce the risk of death from lung cancer. A new study suggests that there is a hormonal influence on lung cancer and that estrogen levels play a role in lung cancer patients' prognosis.Elisabetta Rapiti, M.D., of the Geneva Cancer Registry, led a study that compared lung cancer incidence and mortality among breast cancer patients who were and weren't treated with tamoxifen. The study included 6,655 women who were...

Results from an ongoing study examining two drugs to prevent breast cancer found that the drug raloxifene (Evista) was as almost effective as the standard drug tamoxifen (Nolvadex) and also produced fewer side effects. Earlier results of the study had shown that raloxifene was as effective as tamoxifen in reducing non-invasive breast cancer in post-menopausal women at high risk of developing the disease. For both drugs, women experienced a 50 percent reduction in breast cancer risk after...

A higher prescription co-payment, especially among older women, is associated with both early discontinuation and incomplete use of adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy, a life-saving therapy for women with hormone sensitive early-stage breast cancer.Dawn L. Hershman, M.D., M.S., associate professor of medicine and epidemiology and co-director of the Breast Cancer Program at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University, presented detailed study results at the 33rd...

Use of aromatase inhibitors in early stage breast cancer patients affected; older women more likely to discontinue early because of high co-paymentsA higher prescription co-payment, especially among older women, is associated with both early discontinuation and incomplete use of adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy, a life-saving therapy for women with hormone sensitive early stage breast cancer.Dawn L. Hershman, MD, associate professor of medicine and epidemiology and co-director of the...

Breast cancer patients are more likely to have joint pain from taking aromatase inhibitors (AIs) if they have advanced stage cancer, according to a study presented at the American College of Rheumatology's annual meeting, held Nov. 7-11, in Atlanta. The study is one of the first to identify factors that increase the likelihood that a patient will suffer joint pain from AI therapy.AIs, the standard adjuvant therapy for post-menopausal breast cancer, can cause joint pain in patients, mostly in...

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., Nov. 5, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN) is pleased to announce that it has won the Best New Drug award for Prolia(TM) (denosumab), a novel treatment approved in the United States (U.S.) for women with postmenopausal osteoporosis at high risk for fracture, at the 2010 Scrip Awards ceremony Nov. 4 in London. Named one of TIME's Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs of 2009, Prolia is the first treatment specifically designed to target osteoclasts, the cells that break...

Estrogen therapy used by menopausal women causes a type of ovarian cancer to grow five times faster, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Colorado Cancer Center.Menopausal estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) also significantly increases the likelihood of the cancer metastasizing to the lymph nodes, according to the study, which will be published in the Nov. 1 issue of Cancer Research. The study was released online Oct. 19, 2010. Cancer Research, published by the...

Use of estrogen therapy is associated with an increased risk of developing kidney stones in postmenopausal women, according to a report in the October 11 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals."Nephrolithiasis [kidney stones] is a common condition that affects 5 percent to 7 percent of postmenopausal women in the United States," according to background information in the article. "Because the process of kidney stone formation is influenced by...

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have found how gene expression that may contribute to drug resistance is ramped up in unusual types of breast tumors. Their findings may offer new therapy targets.The study is published in the Oct. 8 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, where it is designated a paper of the week.Approximately 70 percent of breast cancers express the estrogen receptor. These "ER-positive" tumors usually respond to...

A new study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine looked at whether women were more likely to experience sexual problems after breast cancer. The results showed that 70% of women were facing sexual function problems approximately two years post diagnosis.Mary Panjari, PhD, of the Women's Health Program at Monash University, reported on the sexual well-being nearly two years after diagnosis and initial treatment of participants in the BUPA Foundation Health and Wellbeing after Breast...