Randomised study of anastrozole versus tamoxifen as first-line therapy foradvanced breast cancer in postmenopausal women

A total of 668 patients (340 anastrozole and 328 tamoxifen) were randomised in a double-blind, double-dummy multicentre study. Anastrozole was given i n a dose of 1 mg once daily and compared with tamoxifen 20 mg daily in post menopausal patients with tumours that were hormone-receptor positive or of unknown receptor status. The efficacy and tolerability of anastrozole was c ompared with that of tamoxifen as first-line therapy for advanced breast ca ncer. The median time to progression was similar for both treatments (8.2 m onths in anastrozole patients and 8.3 months in tamoxifen patients). Anastr ozole was also as effective as tamoxifen in terms of objective response-rat e with 33% in the anastrozole group and 32.6% in the tamoxifen group achiev ing a complete or partial response. Both treatments were well tolerated. Ho wever, incidences of thromboembolic events and vaginal bleeding were report ed in fewer patients treated with anastrozole than with tamoxifen. In concl usion, these findings indicate that anastrozole can be considered as first- line therapy for postmenopausal women with advanced boast cancer. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.