Combination drug therapy has been found to be more effective in treating advanced breast cancer than a single medication alone, significantly extending the lives of patients.
A study of more than 700 women by University of California-Irvine Medical Center researchers determined the combination of anastrozole and fulvestrant extended the survival of patients with with hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer – where tumors have spread to other parts of the body – by more than six months, compared to the use of standard therapy with only anastrozole.
SPECIAL: This Small Group of Doctors are Quietly Curing Cancer — Read More.
Women taking the two drugs typically survived 47.7 months, compared to 41.3 months for those taking a single medication, according to the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine
"The combination offers a new standard for first-line treatment of postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer," said lead researcher Dr. Rita Mehta. "It has been many years since these patients have seen a new treatment that can significantly extend their overall survival time."
Anastrozole (Arimidex) and fulvestrant (Faslodex) are anti-estrogen drugs used in treating breast cancer, though not in combination. Anastrozole suppresses the body's production of tumor-promoting estrogen, while fulvestrant blocks the receptors that estrogen uses to drive tumor cells to grow and reproduce.
SPECIAL: This Small Group of Doctors are Quietly Curing Cancer — Read More.
The study involved 707 postmenopausal breast cancer patients at 73 U.S. institutions.
The study was funded, in part, by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health.