Evista (raloxifene hydrochloride, manufactured by Eli Lilly) has been approved by the FDA to treat the risk of invasive breast cancer in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis and in postmenopausal women at risk for invasive breast cancer. Evista is a member of the class of selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) drugs and blocks breast estrogen receptors. Evista is currently approved to prevent osteoporosis in postmenopausal women and to treat osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. This approval was based on 3 clinical trials involving ovr 15,000 postmenopausal women comparing Evista with placebo, where Evista was seen to reduce the risk of invasive breast cancer by 44-71%. Serious side effects include blood clots in the legs and lungs and death due to stroke. Source: FDA website. See also Evista website.
Latest Tips RSS
-
TargetingTumors.com
-
TargetingTumors.com
The scientific journal Cancer published an original study called, “Early discontinuation of tamoxifen: A Lesson for oncologists.” Although the optimal length of tamoxifen therapy for preventing recurrence of breast cancer in patients is 5 years, this study found that more than one fifth of women patients stopped therapy. By the end of 3.5 yaers, more than one third of patients have stopped tamoxifen therapy. This was a study of over 2800 patients who received tamoxifen therapy between 2001 and 2004. This is a high rate of patient non-adherence (also called non-compliance or non-persistence) and raises a concern of sticking to a prevention regimen using an oral anticancer agents. Source: Cancer.
-
TargetingTumors.com
Today’s Wall Street Journal is reporting via the Associated Press that a panel of experts have asked the FDA to add a warning to the label for breast cancer drug tamoxifen because some women are genetically disposed to metabolize (process) the drug slower than other women. The processed form of tamoxifen - endoxifen - is the form that stops hormone dependent cell growth, which then stops or slows cancer growth. (More …)