HEALTH
New Cancer Drug
Greatly Reduces Tumor Recurrences
By Darla Sitton
CBN News Producer
December 9, 2004
CBN.com –
(CBN News) - Good news for women fighting breast cancer.
Doctors say a new drug called Arimidex can keep cancer from recurring,
and it works much better than the current leading medication.
Doctors say Arimidex is better than Tamoxifen at warding off
breast cancer tumors.
Dr. Aman Buzdar,of the Anderson Cancer Center said, "Now we
can clearly say that Arimidex is more effective, and also cuts down
on the recurrence."
New studies show that Arimidex may block 70 to 80 percent of the
most common tumors that grow in post-menopausal women, while Tamoxifen,
the current leading treatment, only blocks 50 percent.
After comparing the two, doctors at a breast cancer symposium announced
that Arimidex should be the first line of treatment for women with
the disease.
Dr. Buzdar said, "These drugs work totally by different mechanisms.
Tamoxifen does not change the estrogen level in the patient. What
it does is not let estrogen into the cancer cells. Whereas this
drug Arimidex, it lowers the estrogen production by 98 percent in
the blood so there is very little estrogen for the cancer cells
to grow."
Post-menopausal women with early breast cancer who took Arimidex
for at least five years were far less likely to have the cancer
come back, and research shows that Arimidex causes fewer side effects.
Zora Brown, a breast cancer survivor and founder of breast cancer
support groups, remarked, "We have many women who have come
through our program who have been on Tamoxifen, may now be on Arimidex,
and we're seeing a healthier breast cancer survivor today."
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