Pfizer reports early breast cancer therapy guidelines

Pfizer has announced the publication of St Gallen International Expert Consensus Guidelines on the Primary Therapy of Early Breast Cancer.

The guidelines – presented in the Annals of Oncology journal – confirm the worth of postmenopausal women exhibiting hormone receptor positive early breast cancer switching from treatment with tamoxifen to an aromatase inhibitor, such as Pfizer’s Aromasin (exemestane).

Exemestane operates by affecting the supply of oestrogen to cancers and preventing their growth, with the firm reporting potential life-saving benefits of switching to the drug from tamoxifen as an adjunctive treatment for early breast cancer.

Professor Charles Coombes, head of the Department of Oncology at Imperial College, said: “The St Gallen guidelines have confirmed the value of starting treatment with tamoxifen then switching to an aromatase inhibitor, enabling women to benefit from the advantages of both medicines.”

He added that – in such a switch setting – exemestane has shown proven survival benefit, with these guideline providing confirmation to doctors of this method of using the compound.

In June 2007, a Canadian economic study found that Aromasin can extend disease-free survival rates when used as an adjuvant treatment for postmenopausal women with primary breast cancer, while it also found that switching to the drug from tamoxifen can prove cost effective.