Researchers from the Early Breast Cancer Trialists’ Collaborative Group combined the results of 9 RCTs (n=31,920) who had used aromatase inhibitors and tamoxifen at various times during the course of treatment. All of the women were postmenopausal and had been treated for oestrogen positive breast cancer.
A related editorial discusses the findings of this meta-analysis, and the authors conclude that “Anecdotal experience suggests that some patients tolerate aromatase inhibitors better than tamoxifen, and vice versa, and that patients intolerant of one aromatase inhibitor might tolerate another, especially after a short treatment hiatus to reset their symptom profile. Ultimately, the best choice for adjuvant endocrine therapy is a treatment the patient is willing to take. For most patients, especially as we envision an era of longer durations of endocrine therapy, it will be more important to assure that they are on a tolerable medication than to be unyielding over prescribing a specific bottle that sits untouched in the medicine cabinet.”