Hormone therapy for breast cancer

Before taking letrozole, tell your healthcare provider about any prescription or over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, vitamins/minerals, herbal products, and other supplements you are using. Tell your healthcare provider about all of your health conditions and any prescription or over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, vitamins/minerals, herbal products, and other supplements you are using. This will help them determine if letrozole is right for you. Letrozole lowers estrogen levels in postmenopausal women, which may slow the growth of certain types of breast tumors that need estrogen to grow in the body. The incidence of cardiovascular ischemic events from the core randomized study was comparable between patients who received Femara 6.8% (175) and placebo 6.5% (167).

LiverTox: Clinical and Research Information on Drug-Induced Liver Injury Internet.

• No dosage adjustment is required for patients with renal impairment if creatinine clearance is greater than or equal to 10 mL/min see Clinical Pharmacology (12.3).
• If you’re experiencing side effects from the drug, or want to prevent them, you can also choose foods that help minimize them.
• Using this medicine with any of the following medicines is usually not recommended, but may be required in some cases.
• But sometimes the types of cancer this treatment is used for, or treatment side effects, may change between revision dates.
• Adverse reactions that were reported in at least 5% of the patients treated with letrozole 2.5 mg or tamoxifen 20 mg in the first-line treatment study are shown in Table 4.

Common side effects of Femara include nausea, vomiting, fatigue, headache, muscle aches, diarrhea, constipation, and chest pain. Femara is an anti-estrogen drug https://events.utm.my/muscle-building-products-effects/ and causes fetal harm during pregnancy. How long you continue aromatase inhibitors depends on your specific situation. Current research suggests at least five years of hormone therapy. Some people may benefit from 7 to 10 years of treatment.

Advise females to contact their healthcare provider if they become pregnant, or if pregnancy is suspected, during treatment with letrozole see Warnings and Precautions (5.6) and Use in Specific Populations (8.1, 8.3). In the adjuvant setting (BIG 1-98), more than 8,000 postmenopausal women were enrolled in the clinical study. In total, 36% of patients were aged 65 years or older at enrollment, while 12% were 75 or older. More adverse reactions were generally reported in elderly patients irrespective of study treatment allocation.

Related treatment guides

In addition, you can learn about breast cancer and its treatment options by subscribing to Healthline’s breast cancer newsletter. You shouldn’t use Femara while pregnant or breastfeeding. And you shouldn’t become pregnant or breastfeed for at least 3 weeks after your last dose of the drug. In addition, drugs and other products that contain estrogen, such as vaginal creams, may decrease the effects of Femara. Before taking Femara, be sure to tell your doctor about all medications you take, including prescription and over-the-counter types.

Is letrozole or anastrozole part of your treatment plan for hormone receptor-positive breast cancer? Share your experiences in the comments below, or start a conversation by posting on your Activities page. One of the most important studies comparing these two medications was the Femara Versus Anastrozole Clinical Evaluation (FACE) trial. This study included more than 4,000 postmenopausal women with HR-positive or node-positive early-stage breast cancer. Participants were randomized into two groups, with one group taking letrozole and the other taking anastrozole for five years or until breast cancer returned. Based on 62 months median duration of follow-up in the randomized letrozole arm in the safety population the incidence of cardiovascular disease at any time after randomization was 14.4% for letrozole and 9.8% for placebo.