Femara® helps protect against return of breast cancer even when treatment starts several years after completing tamoxifen therapy

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from Novartis Oncology

We are pleased to share the results of a new MA-17 post-unblinding analysis, published today in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, that provides evidence of the benefit for Femara to reduce the risk of breast cancer returning when treatment is started anywhere from one to seven years after finishing tamoxifen therapy.

Results show that women who started Femara several years after completing the recommended five years of tamoxifen reduced their risk of breast cancer coming back by 63% compared to those who did not start Femara. In addition, the risk of cancer spreading to other areas of the body was reduced by 61%. This exploratory analysis of post-unblinding results from the landmark MA-17 trial evaluated a subset of 2,383 women in the original placebo group when the study was unblinded. Of these women, 1,579 chose to switch to Femara, while 804 chose not to start Femara.


Also published today in the Annals of Oncology is a separate intent-to-treat (ITT) analysis of unblinded results from the MA-17 trial. Results from this analysis validate the significant benefit of initiating Femara within three months of completing five years of tamoxifen. At a median follow-up of 64 months, Femara significantly reduced the risk of breast cancer recurrence by 32% versus placebo. Femara maintained its significant benefit over placebo, even though more than 60% of women in the placebo group started Femara when the study was unblinded. This ITT analysis evaluated the outcomes for women randomized to Femara and placebo in the original trial study arms.

These data reinforce the need for women who have completed standard tamoxifen therapy to go back to their doctors and discuss ways to reduce their risk of recurrence.