Which is better Aromasin or Femara?
Survival rate is the number of patients still alive at the conclusion of a study. In addition, 5 years of treatment with aromatase inhibitors was not superior to 2 years of tamoxifen followed by 3 years of an aromatase inhibitor. As a result, people often find themselves facing high out-of-pocket costs when filling prescriptions for oral cancer drugs. Sometimes these costs can be thousands of dollars a month.
Aromatase inhibitors are a class of drug used to prevent cancer recurrence in postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor-positive https://www.liberatehealingcenter.com/2024/07/23/winstrol-nm-50-mg-euro-prime-farmaceuticals-14/ breast cancer. These medications also are prescribed for premenopausal women in combination with ovarian suppression therapy and for men with breast cancer who are unable to take tamoxifen. People with estrogen-positive breast cancers may benefit from hormone therapy to prevent cancer from returning. Tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors are two types of medications that may help. They vary in cost and use, so talk with your doctor about what treatment is most appropriate for you.
However, aromatase inhibitors are not FDA-approved for use as risk-lowering drugs. Learn more about the importance of following your breast cancer treatment plan. Find a list of questions on hormone therapy you may want to ask your health care provider. Aromasin (exemestane) is a member of the aromatase inhibitors drug class and is commonly used for Breast Cancer.
- Common side effects of Letrozole include hot flashes, night sweats, fatigue, dizziness, headache, somnolence, abdominal discomfort, nausea, arthralgias, weight gain and rash 25.
- Letrozole is also indicated as a first line treatment of estrogen receptor positive or unknown, locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer in postmenopausal women 25.
- Letrozole (Femara) is in a class of medications called aromatase inhibitors.
- Your doctor or pharmacist can tell you more about these interactions and any others that may occur with the use of this drug.
- Clinicians can use aromatase inhibitors to induce ovulation in the treatment of infertility 6, 13.
- Aromatase inhibitors help lower estrogen levels, but they don’t stop the ovaries from making estrogen.
Proving your own costs may be required for the insurance to cover your drug. If you are having difficulty affording hormone therapy, you have a few options. Work with your doctor and compare the costs of the medications that are recommended for you. Advanced breast cancer (cancer that has spread) after treatment with tamoxifen, and it did not work or is no longer working.
How do hormone therapies work?
Patients react differently to aromatase inhibitors, but few experience side effects severe enough to interfere with daily life. Aromatase inhibitors don’t stop the ovaries from making estrogen. If your ovaries are still functioning, aromatase inhibitors will have no effect.
Aromatase inhibitors also keep ER-positive breast cancer from recurring, or coming back, after breast cancer surgery. If you have an increased risk of developing ER-positive breast cancer, taking an aromatase inhibitor may reduce your risk. Anastrozole (Arimidex), a selective aromatase inhibitor, is available as a 1 mg tablet, which is to be taken orally once a day, with or without food. No dose adjustment is necessary for patients with kidney or liver impairment or elderly patients. The most common side effects of aromatase inhibitors are symptoms of menopause, such as hot flashes, night sweats, and vaginal dryness.
Sign up to be a Komen Advocacy Insider and get informed when action is needed on drug coverage issues at the state or national level. No one should be forced to get less appropriate treatment because an insurer gives more coverage for IV and injectable drugs than for pills. Learn about ways to manage hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms. Learn about the importance of completing treatment with an aromatase inhibitor. Anastrozole, exemestane and letrozole are equally effective and have similar side effects [90, ].
Osteoporosis Risk
Learn about hormone therapy drugs for metastatic breast cancer. Men with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer most often take tamoxifen. Hormone therapies slow or stop the growth of hormone receptor-positive tumors by preventing the cancer cells from getting the hormones they need to grow. When these hormones attach to special proteins called hormone receptors, the cancer cells with these receptors grow.
Keep Careful Records
Aromatase inhibitors are among the most effective medications today for treating or preventing the recurrence of estrogen-fueled breast cancers in post-menopausal women. Below are the pre-insurance, U.S. prices for a month’s supply (30 days) of the brand name and generic versions of tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors. The lowest costs found using coupons or prescription-assistance programs are also listed. Possible side effects of aromatase inhibitors include muscle pain, joint pain and menopausal symptoms (such as hot flashes). In general, aromatase inhibitors are only used to treat breast cancer in postmenopausal women. Aromatase inhibitors lower estrogen levels in the body by blocking aromatase, an enzyme that converts other hormones into estrogen.
Aromatase inhibitors should not be used in people with a known hypersensitivity to any of the active or inactive ingredients in the drug. With that being said, a drug allergy is not common with aromatase inhibitors, affecting less than one out of 10,000 users. Aromatase inhibitors work by binding to aromatase and preventing aromatization from occurring. By doing so, the production of estrogen may be reduced by as much as 95% in postmenopausal women. In women who have not undergone menopause, estrogen is produced mainly in the ovaries and, to a lesser degree, in peripheral tissues such as the breasts, liver, brain, skin, bone, and pancreas. In postmenopausal women, whose ovaries are no longer functioning, the peripheral tissues are the predominant source of estrogen.