The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) has recommended the use of aromatase inhibitors, which include drugs such as Femara for treating early breast cancer in post-menopausal women immediately after surgery.
Aromatase inhibitors stop the natural production of oestrogen - the hormone that is responsible for the growth and recurrence of many breast cancers.
Previous research has shown that Femara works better after surgery and cuts death rates by 39% in women who took it after a long course of tamoxifen.
Another study, last year, found that in women whose cancer had spread to the lymph nodes, the drug cut the risk of a recurrence of disease by 29% compared with tamoxifen.
This is great news for the advancement of breast cancer research.
Article via Guardian Unlimited in the UK.
