Post Menopausal women with early breast cancer who have been receiving the 30-year-old tamoxifen treatment can now change to a more modern therapy with the drug, Arimidex under a new European licence granted to drug firm AstraZeneca.
The company AstraZeneca has stated that Arimidex, an aromatase inhibitor, will be made available to women who have already received a partial course of tamoxifen.The license for this switch over has been granted in Britain, Portugal, Germany, Spain and Italy.Clinical research has revealed that Arimidex reduces the risk of return of breast cancer by an additional 26 percent on comparing with tamoxifen.
Thus far, Arimidex was only licensed for use immediately after breast cancer surgery, in patients who have been newly diagnosed with the disease. With the new licence Arimidex has become the first aromatase inhibitor to be approved in Europe for both primary use and subsequent to two to three years of tamoxifen.
Other rival companies Novartis AG and Pfizer Inc also make aromatase inhibitors.
