(Breast Cancer) Fulvestrant & Anastrozole ESMO 2016

• October 18, 2016
• Read time: 1 minute

Fulvestrant (Faslodex injection) is an estrogen receptor inhibitor. Anastrozole (Arimidex tablets) regulates the production or function of specific hormones to control cancer cell growth, and is an oral medication. This clinical trial was presented by Dr. Matthew J. Ellis of Baylor College of Medicine, USA, at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO 2016) held in Copenhagen, Denmark, from October 7–11. The trial compared these two drugs in postmenopausal breast cancer patients who had not previously received hormone therapy and were HER2-negative.

This was a Phase 3, double-blind trial named FALCON (Fulvestrant and AnastrozoLe COmpared in hormonal therapy Naive advanced breast cancer), divided into two groups: Group 1 received Fulvestrant injections on Days 1, 14, and 28, followed by placebo tablets for Anastrozole. Group 2 received 1 mg of Anastrozole daily, followed by placebo injections for Fulvestrant. PFS, OS, CBR, DoR, and other values were evaluated to determine which was superior.

This clinical trial enrolled 230 patients in the Fulvestrant injection group, with an average age of 64 years. Among them, 135 had visceral metastases (58.7%). The Anastrozole group enrolled 232 patients with an average age of 62 years, of whom 119 had visceral metastases (51.3%).

Regarding trial results, the median PFS was: Fulvestrant 16.6 months, Anastrozole 13.8 months. For patients without visceral metastases: Fulvestrant 22.3 months versus Anastrozole 13.8 months. Differences between groups were also apparent in other evaluation metrics.

For additional reference, a related article on hormone medications for breast cancer patients from Koo Foundation Sun Yat-Sen Cancer Center, written by Dr. Chen, is available at: http://www.kfsyscc.org/cancer/breast-cancer/therapy/hormone/

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