Authors
Paul E Goss, James N Ingle, Kathleen I Pritchard, Nicholas J Robert, Hyman Muss, Julie Gralow, Karen Gelmon, Tim Whelan, Kathrin Strasser-Weippl, Sheldon Rubin, Keren Sturtz, Antonio C Wolff, Eric Winer, Clifford Hudis, Alison Stopeck, J Thaddeus Beck, Judith S Kaur, Kate Whelan, Dongsheng Tu, Wendy R Parulekar
Publication date
2016/7/21
Journal
New England Journal of Medicine
Volume
375
Issue
3
Pages
209-219
Publisher
Massachusetts Medical Society
Description
Background
Treatment with an aromatase inhibitor for 5 years as up-front monotherapy or after tamoxifen therapy is the treatment of choice for hormone-receptor–positive early breast cancer in postmenopausal women. Extending treatment with an aromatase inhibitor to 10 years may further reduce the risk of breast-cancer recurrence.
Methods
We conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to assess the effect of the extended use of letrozole for an additional 5 years. Our primary end point was disease-free survival.
Results
We enrolled 1918 women. After a median follow-up of 6.3 years, there were 165 events involving disease recurrence or the occurrence of contralateral breast cancer (67 with letrozole and 98 with placebo) and 200 deaths (100 in each group). The 5-year disease-free survival rate was 95% (95% confidence interval [CI], 93 to 96) with letrozole and 91% (95% CI; 89 to 93) with placebo …
Scholar articles
PE Goss, JN Ingle, KI Pritchard, NJ Robert, H Muss… - New England Journal of Medicine, 2016