Aromatase Inhibitors: Uses, Dosage, Side Effects, Interactions

You might also have this treatment if you are a man with breast cancer. One of the most common types of hormone therapy used for breast cancer is tamoxifen. However, some premenopausal women may take an aromatase inhibitorwhen combined with ovarian suppression, which shuts down the ovaries. Learn about aromatase inhibitors and treatment for metastatic breast cancer. Hormone receptor-positive breast cancers need estrogen (a female hormone) to grow.

What are the side effects of hormone therapy?

• When given daily in therapeutic doses, both letrozole and anastrozole profoundly inhibit aromatase activity and effectively suppress estrogen levels in postmenopausal women at 3 months.
• In addition, it may be used in premenopausal women who have had ovarian ablation.
• Aromatase inhibitors work by reducing the amount of estrogen in your body.
• Until recently, most women who received adjuvant hormone therapy to reduce the chance of a breast cancer recurrence took tamoxifen every day for 5 years.
• In general, aromatase inhibitors are only used to treat breast cancer in postmenopausal women.

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Based on preclinical and clinical studies, there does not appear to be an advantage in combining the SERM tamoxifen with a nonsteroidal AI as initial therapy. However, preclinical findings suggest that there may be an advantage in combining tamoxifen with steroidal AIs. This type of combination should be investigated further in controlled clinical trials. Steroidal and nonsteroidal AIs are being directly compared in an ongoing head-to-head randomized controlled trial.

If you have ER-positive breast cancer, aromatase inhibitor therapy significantly reduces your risk that breast cancer will come back. One early study compared outcomes for those who took the aromatase inhibitor letrozole after tamoxifen and people who didn’t. The study showed that taking letrozole reduced the risk of dying of breast cancer by 24% to 35%. Findings from randomized controlled trials have shown the aromatase inhibitors exemestane and anastrozole may lower the risk of developing breast cancer in postmenopausal women at high risk [ ].

Treatments to stop ovarian function in premenopausal women

Hot flashes, night sweats, and vaginal dryness are common side effects of all hormone therapies. Hormone therapy also may disrupt the menstrual cycle in premenopausal women. Examples of aromatase inhibitors approved by the FDA are anastrozole (Arimidex) and letrozole (Femara), both of which temporarily inactivate aromatase, and exemestane (Aromasin), which permanently inactivates aromatase. A side effect of aromatase inhibitors and goserelin is bone thinning (osteoporosis) or weakening. If you are starting treatment with an aromatase inhibitor you might have a DEXA scan first. Check what is the name of the hormone therapy with your doctor or nurse, then take a look at our A to Z list of cancer drugs.

Hormone-sensitive breast cancers are fueled by the natural hormones estrogen or progesterone. Even more impressive, a number of clinical studies have suggested that aromatase inhibitors may be just as effective in preventing breast cancer as preventing breast cancer recurrence. Omnitrop buy 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). An enzyme in fat tissue, called aromatase, converts other hormones in the body into estrogen.

Issues of endocrine effectiveness, safety, sequence, and combination treatment still remain. The primary endpoint of the 5-year study is event-free survival; two bone substudies are evaluating the effects of the respective AIs on bone metabolism in women with or without osteoporosis pretreatment. A crosscomparison of the efficacy and end-organ effects of these two very similarly designed trials will be informative.

“I always advise patients to talk with their oncologist before starting any new supplements or herbs — especially since grape seed extract can increase the risk of bleeding,” adds Proctor. Aromatase inhibitors are typically used to treat people who have already experienced menopause. Advise your oncologist about any medications you are taking, whether they are pharmaceutical, over-the-counter, recreational, or traditional to avoid drug interactions.

It must be mentioned that these sites offer a variety of steroids, but in order to provide as many trusted sites as possible, each site has been mentioned in relation to their provision of a particular steroid. In addition to pharmaceutical AIs, some natural elements have aromatase inhibiting effects, such as damiana leaves. Your donation can make a difference in the future of healthcare. Explore Mayo Clinic studies of tests and procedures to help prevent, detect, treat or manage conditions.