Survival outcome and treatment tolerability for postmenopausal females with early stage hormone receptor positive breast cancer treated with different adjuvant hormonal lines (TAM vs. AI vs. switching strategy) for 5 years

Abstract

Background The standard adjuvant endocrine treatment for postmenopausal female patients with hormone receptor positive early breast cancer was 5 years of tamoxifen, but recurrence and side effects restrict its usefulness. The aromatase inhibitor (anastrozole or exemestane or letrozole) was compared with tamoxifen for 5 years or started after completing 2-3 years of tamoxifen in postmenopausal female patients diagnosed with early breast cancer at "Ain Shams University Hospitals" Objective The aim of the study was to measure survival outcome and treatment tolerability for postmenopausal females with Hormone Receptor Positive early breast cancer who received adjuvant hormonal treatment with tamoxifen [TAM] only for 5 years versus those who received adjuvant hormonal treatment with tamoxifen [TAM] for 2 years switching to aromatase inhibitors [AI] in the sequential 3 years versus those who received adjuvant hormonal treatment with aromatase inhibitors [AI] solely for 5 years. Patients and methods This study included 100 postmenopausal women with early breast cancer who presented at the Clinical Oncology Department, Ain Shams University, in the interval from January 2010 until December 2015. Conclusion Similar disease free survival and overall survival were observed among the three studied groups. Switching tamoxifen to aromatase inhibitors provides better tolerability in terms of endometrial thickness when compared to 5 years of tamoxifen monotherapy. Patients who administer aromatase inhibitor included in the switching strategy experience less osteoporosis and less generalized bone pain compared to upfront aromatase inhibitor to 5 years. There was a significant improvement of disease free survival (DFS) in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER 2) negative patients receiving any adjuvant hormonal treatment line for five years in comparison to HER 2 positive patients receiving the same adjuvant hormonal treatment for five years.