Anastrozole 1m g tablet given orally as a second-line endocrine treatment for women with breast cancer after menopause. It is a nonsteroidal inhibitor of aromatase, an enzyme that is responsible for the conversion of androgens to estrogens in postmenopausal women. This blog will discuss Anastrozole use as a second-line endocrine treatment, its mechanism of action, dosage and administration, clinical efficacy, side effects, and contraindications.
Endocrine treatment
Endocrine treatment therapy for breast and prostate cancer. Rather than attacking the cancer cells themselves, endocrine treatment targets the hormones that fuel their growth. This type of treatment works by either preventing the body from producing certain hormones or blocking hormone receptors in the cancer cells. Some common forms of endocrine treatment include tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors for breast cancer and androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer. Although there are side effects such as decreased libido but still it has a high rate of effectivity
State of breast cancer in postmenopausal women
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide. Approximately two thirds of breast cancers are estrogen receptor-positive (ER+), which means that they grow in response to estrogen. Therefore, one of the main strategies for treating ER+ breast cancer is to reduce or block estrogen production in the body, thus depriving the cancer cells of their growth stimulus. Endocrine therapy is the mainstay of treatment for postmenopausal women with ER+ breast cancer.
Selective estrogen receptor modulator
The first-line endocrine therapy for postmenopausal women with early-stage ER+ breast cancer is usually a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM), such as tamoxifen. However, 20-30% of ER+ breast cancers are resistant to tamoxifen or develop resistance after the initial response. In such cases, second-line treatment required accordingly.
Use of Anastrozole as a second-line endocrine treatment
Use of Anastrozole 1mg tablet as a second-line endocrine treatment for postmenopausal women with advanced or metastatic ER+ breast cancer who have progressed for tamoxifen or another SERM. Anastrozole provision as first-line endocrine treatment in early-stage ER+ breast cancer in postmenopausal women who cannot tolerate tamoxifen.
Action of Anastrozole
Anastrozole works by inhibiting aromatase, an enzyme that converts androgens to estrogens in adipose tissue, muscle, and other peripheral tissues. By reducing the amount of estrogen in the body, Anastrozole deprives ER+ breast cancer cells of their growth stimulus and thus slows down or halts their growth. Anastrozole is highly selective for aromatase and has no appreciable effect on other steroidogenic enzymes or receptors.
By inhibiting aromatase, anastrozole reduces the amount of estrogen in the body, which can help slow or stop the growth of breast cancer cells. Anastrozole is used primarily in the treatment of hormone receptor-positive breast cancer in postmenopausal women. It is typically taken orally as a tablet once a day.
Dosage pattern to be followed
The usual dose of Anastrozole 1mg tablet is 1 mg by mouth once daily. Additionally absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract within 2 hours to reach peak plasma concentration. Anastrozole has a longer half-life (about 50 hours) than tamoxifen (about 5-7 days). The dosage is once per day.