An international group of breast cancer experts called for the aromatase inhibitor (AI), anastrozole ('Arimidex'), to be considered as the new 'preferred treatment option' for postmenopausal women with early breast cancer.
This 'call to action' from the Steering Committee of the ATAC ('Arimidex', Tamoxifen, Alone or in Combination) trial, follows last week's publication of new breast cancer treatment guidelines from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
For the first time, these guidelines recognise that 5 years' tamoxifen alone is no longer the optimal hormonal breast cancer treatment for these women, recommending that therapy, should now include the use of an aromatase inhibitor (AI), either initially or after treatment with tamoxifen, to 'lower the risk of tumour recurrence'. They go on to state that, as it is unknown if the three available drugs are interchangeable in clinical practice, the choice of AI should be based upon the agent that has been most studied in the relevant clinical setting.
These latest guidelines, however, were developed prior to the availability of pivotal data from the ATAC 5-year Completed Treatment Analysis, which were published in The Lancet in January 2005 (2). With these mature and conclusive data now demonstrating that 5 years' treatment with anastrozole can help more women live free of breast cancer with a lower risk of serious side effects than tamoxifen, there is an urgent need for the benefits of initial adjuvant therapy with anastrozole specifically to be reflected in future breast cancer treatment guidelines.
The conclusive ATAC data will be presented for the first time in Europe this week at the 'Primary Therapy of Early Breast Cancer' conference in St. Gallen, Switzerland. The meeting also hosts the 'International Consensus Conference on the Optimal Primary Therapy of Early Breast Cancer', which is aimed at reviewing and updating the international treatment guidelines that are published by this group. The ATAC steering committee's call for action is therefore directed towards this consensus panel who will be the first to be able to make specific recommendations for anastrozole taking into account the conclusive, mature data from the ATAC Completed Treatment analysis.
Commenting on the consensus panel's meeting this week, breast cancer expert and Chair of the ATAC steering committee, Professor Tony Howell said, "The ATAC Steering committee is calling for the St. Gallen Panel to be pivotal in creating greater access to anastrozole, the preferred treatment option for postmenopausal women with early breast cancer. We are all excited about the latest ATAC results and look forward to seeing them reflected in the discussions held at St Gallen. We hope the committee will acknowledge the importance of these data and become the first consensus group to reflect them in their guidelines, setting the expected level of treatment standard for women throughout the world."