USE OF AROMATASE INHIBITORS IN POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN WITH ADVANCED BREAST-CANCER

Surgeons have been involved in the management of metastatic breast can cer since the technique of ovarian ablation was introduced in 1896. Ho wever, as newer hormonal and chemotherapeutic regimens were developed, drug therapy gradually replaced surgery as the preferred treatment fo r metastatic breast cancer. Thus, management of metastatic breast canc er has largely shifted from surgeons to medical oncologists. Advances in hormonal pharmacology have placed hormonal therapy alongside surger y and radiation therapy as a standard treatment option for women with advanced breast cancer. The purpose of this article is to update surge ons on the current use of hormonal agents for treatment of advanced br east cancer in postmenopausal women, and to review the aromatase inhib itors, a new line of hormonal agents for the treatment of advanced bre ast cancer. (C) 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.