Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Chemotherapy, Heart Disease, Kaiser Permanente / 04.05.2016
Aromatase Inhibitors Do Not Increase Risk of the Most Fatal Cardiovascular Events in Breast Cancer Patients
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Reina Haque, PhD MPH
Research scientist
Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Haque: The study fills an important knowledge gap about the long-term association of aromatase inhibitors on cardiovascular disease risk in breast cancer survivors.
This was a retrospective cohort study that included a cohort of 13,273 postmenopausal breast cancer survivors who were diagnosed with breast cancer, either estrogen or progesterone receptor positive, from 1991 to 2010. The patients were followed through 2011, or a maximum of 21 years. The study participants were divided into four groups based on the drugs they received: 31.7 percent were treated only with tamoxifen; 28.6 percent only with aromatase inhibitors; 20.2 percent used both; and 19.4 percent did not use any of these drugs. These oral drugs are used to combat breast cancer recurrence, but may have long-term side effects on other organs.
The study determined that the risk of cardiac ischemia (which can lead to a heart attack) and stroke were not elevated in patients who only took aromatase inhibitors compared to those who only took tamoxifen. These results provide reassurance that aromatase inhibitors may not increase risk of the potentially fatal cardiovascular outcomes compared to tamoxifen.
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