Aromatase inhibitors may replace tamoxifen.

2004 MAY 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A 4-year update of the ATAC (Arimidex, Tamoxifen Alone or in Combination) Trial showed that patients on anastrozole have longer disease-free survival, lower incidence of contralateral breast cancer, and fewer side effects than women taking tamoxifen.

Two other aromatase inhibitors, letrozole and exemestane, are also proving more effective than tamoxifen. "In metastatic disease, and possibly in the adjuvant setting as well, it appears that the aromatase inhibitors will replace tamoxifen, at least for postmenopausal women," said Lawrence Wickerham, MD, associate chairman, National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP), and associate professor of human oncology at Drexel University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

This month's Breastlink.org also features articles on the following topics:

1) Antibiotics linked to breast cancer risk. A widely publicized study of more than 10,000 women found an association between cumulative use of antibiotics and an increased risk of breast cancer. However, no causal relationship was found.

"I think the real answer here is that antibiotics themselves aren't increasing the risk but that the underlying reason for which the antibiotic was prescribed is somehow connected to the risk of breast cancer," said M. William Audeh, MD, assistant clinical professor of medicine, UCLA, and medical oncologist at ...