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American Morning

Expert Panel Recommends Tamoxifen Despite Study

Aired May 20, 2002 - 08:40   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: There is some hopeful news for women coming out of a major conference on cancer.

CNN medical correspondent Rea Blakey joins us now with more from Washington.

Good morning.

REA BLAKEY, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

This information should put a lot of doctors and their patients at ease. Tamoxifen, which is a standard breast cancer drug therapy with two decades of research, for now remains the recommended treatment choice for women with the early-stage breast cancer. Now that's despite the addition of a new class of promising drugs.

Tamoxifen works by blocking the effects of estrogen, which can fuel cancer growth. Women typically take it for about five years after breast cancer surgery.

Well, last December, research showed that a new class of drugs called aromotease (ph) inhibitors was slightly more promising in the short term for treating the earliest breast cancers. Now a panel of clinical oncologists is recommending that doctors keep their patients on tamoxifen rather than switch. Aromotease inhibitors can also block estrogen, and a study comparing one of these drugs called Arimidex (ph) against tamoxifen showed that after almost three years, 90 percent of patient patients taking Arimidex were alive and cancer free. Now that's compared to 88 percent on tamoxifen.

But a group of cancer specialists said, they want doctors to stick with the tried and true, especially since there's only short- term research on Arimidex at this point in treating early-stage breast cancer.

Also, this note on tamoxifen, it does carry some risks, stroke, blood clots, endomitreal (ph) cancer. However, there's also a new study that indicates that given tamoxifen after chemotherapy can be extremely effective for women. It shows that tamoxifen can do more to decrease the recurrance and increase survival rates of women with early stage breast cancer if it's given after chemotherapy. So that's key, and that will very likely change the way some doctors proceed in regards to early breast cancer treatments -- Paula. ZAHN: And so, Rea, how long will it be before this next batch of studies is done that will talk about this newer class of drugs and its effectiveness?

BLAKEY: That's an ongoing research study. As you mentioned, just three years of research under way. They want to continue it for 10 years. Generally, cancer survival rates are judged by the five- year mark, so that's an important milestone.

One other issue that came out of the ASCO meetings -- that's the American Socieyt for Clinical Oncologists -- this weekend in Orlando has to do with lung cancer. It seems a little bit like a no-brainer, but they say that lung cancer patients who stop smoking can increase their lifespan. Now the deal here is that researchers looked at more than 215 patients with what's called small-cell lung cancer. And basically, those who did in fact stop smoking increased their lifespan over a two-year period. So that's significant.

ZAHN: That, to me, would seem like common sense, wouldn't it, Rea?

BLAKEY: It does, but you'd be surprised...

ZAHN: Once you're diagnosed with lung cancer...

BLAKEY: Oftentimes, doctors will not put patients through the trauma of making them stop, because many of these people have smoked for decades. So, you know, sort of a security blanket. After all, a generally small cell is pretty much considered incurable. But basically you can increase your quality of life and your lifespan if you do stop.

ZAHN: Good news this morning. Thank you so much for letting us know about those studies.

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