Should I Take Aromatase Inhibitors for Breast Cancer?

Ovarian ablation can be done surgically in an operation to remove the ovaries (called oophorectomy) or by treatment with radiation. The free Drugs.com Discount Card works like a coupon and can save you up to 80% or more off the cost of prescription medicines, over-the-counter drugs and pet prescriptions. Compounds that inhibit AROMATASE in order to reduce production of estrogenic steroid hormones. Treatments to stop ovarian function may allow those who haven’t been through menopause to take medicines only available to those who’ve been through menopause.

• However, there’s not enough research to conclude that breast cancer patients can replace aromatase inhibitors with grape seed extract or other dietary choices, cautions Proctor.
• Uncommon, but potentially severe adverse reactions of exemestane include reduction in body mineral density and embryo-fetal toxicity 24.
• If you’re taking an aromatase inhibitor, ask your healthcare provider about ways to reduce side effects so you can continue treatment that helps you live free of breast cancer.
• Unlike tamoxifen and raloxifene, AIs tend to speed up bone thinning, which can lead to osteoporosis.

They are used to treat hormone receptor-positive early, locally advanced and metastatic breast cancers. That said, studies show breast cancer can come back as long as 20 years after treatment. If you’re receiving treatment for ER-positive breast cancer, ask your healthcare provider to explain your risk of late recurrence breast cancer.

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. As a result of these trials, both tamoxifen and raloxifene have been approved by the FDA to reduce the risk of developing breast cancer in women at high risk of the disease.

Learn more about the importance of following your breast cancer treatment plan. The length of this treatment along with side effects, such as menopausal symptoms, can make it tough to complete treatment. Talk with your health care team about ways to ease these and other side effects.

What are the risks and side effects of aromatase inhibitors?

Aromatase inhibitors are not effective in premenopausal women unless they are combined with ovarian suppression because they mainly inhibit the estrogen produced in the fat tissue and not in the ovaries. The primary source of estrogen prior to menopause are the ovaries (not the peripheral conversion of androgens to estrogen by aromatase as in postmenopausal women). Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) are drugs used to lower breast cancer risk in some post-menopausal women.

Common side effects ofLetrozole include hot flashes, night sweats, fatigue, dizziness, headache, somnolence, abdominal discomfort, nausea, arthralgias, weight gain and rash 25. Uncommon, but potentially severe side effects of Letrozole include decrease in bone mineral density, increases in serum cholesterol levels and embryo-fetal toxicity 25. Letrozole is available in 2.5 mg tablets in generic forms and under the brand name Femara. The recommended dose is one tablet daily by mouth once a day with or without food. Follow the directions on your prescription label carefully, and ask your doctor or pharmacist to explain any part you do not understand. Do not take more or less of it or take it more often than prescribed by your doctor.

What is an aromatase inhibitor?

People who are prescribed tamoxifen should discuss the use of all other medications with their doctors. Decisions about the type and duration of adjuvant hormone therapy are complicated and must be made on an individual basis in consultation with an oncologist. Examples of ovarian suppression drugs are goserelin (Zoladex) and leuprolide (Lupron).

Exemestane (Aromasin) is also used to treat estrogen sensitive breast cancer in women who have experienced menopause whose breast cancer has worsened while they were taking tamoxifen. Studies have shown that aromatase inhibitors are effective when Gonadotropin where can i buy used as adjuvant (add-on) therapy to chemotherapy and surgery in metastatic estrogen-dependent breast cancer. Aromatase inhibitors use in preventative and adjuvant therapies for other conditions is currently under investigation 27, 28. Letrozole (Femara) is in a class of medications called aromatase inhibitors.

Aromatase inhibitors

Aromatase inhibitors bind to aromatase and stop the process of conversion to estrogen. This keeps estrogen levels down and helps prevent cancer cells from getting the estrogen they can use to grow and spread. But the hormone is still made in other areas of the body, mostly in fat cells.