BREAST CANCER: Toremifene matches tamoxifen in early stage breast cancer outcomes

From the annual meeting of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in December 2008SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS | Researchers suggest the selective estrogen receptor modulator toremifene may be as effective as tamoxifen in preventing recurrence among early stage breast cancer patients.“We did not observe any significant differences between treatments with either tamoxifen of toremifene (Fareston),” said Dr. Jaime Lewis, a resident in the department of surgery at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. “The treatment of hormone receptor-positive patients with either toremifene or tamoxifen is appropriate.”Dr. Lewis and colleagues enrolled 1,813 peri-menopausal or postmenopausal women into the North American Fareston versus Tamoxifen Adjuvant trial and followed them for a median of 59 months. The researchers assigned 906 postmenopausal women to toremifene and 907 to tamoxifen.Based on intention-to-treat criteria, the mean overall survival for patients on toremifene was 98.1 months compared with 98.6 months for those patients taking tamoxifen. The mean disease-free survival was 96.7 months for patients on toremifene and 96.4 months for those on tamoxifen.Dr. Lewis said the results suggest patients could be offered either of the drugs as adjuvant treatment for early stage breast cancer, or if a patient found a particular drug intolerable, that patient could be reasonably switched to the other SERM.The single most frequent side-effect was hot flashes, which were reported by 364 women on tamoxifen and 374 on toremifene. Women on tamoxifen reported 97 instances of spot bleeding or vaginal bleeding compared with 69 women taking toremifene.The study received support from Orion Pharma in Helsinki.

BREAST CANCER: Toremifene matches tamoxifen in early stage breast cancer outcomes

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