SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- May 14, 2001 -- Research shows that the aromatase inactivator, exemestane (Aromasin, Pharmacia), does not cause adverse conditions on cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
Caroline Lohrisch, MD, of Brussels, Belgium, and research fellow in the Investigational Drug Branch for Breast Cancer, European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer, evaluated 39 postmenopausal women being treated for metastatic breast cancer.
Dr. Lohrisch recorded total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and triglycerides at baseline and after 24 weeks of treatment.
"Twenty-four weeks of exemestane has beneficial effects on triglycerides," Dr. Lohrisch said in a post presentation at the 37th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, "and no adverse effects on HDL or total cholesterol levels."
She reported that 54 percent of the women’s triglyceride levels didn’t change within the six-months of the study, but in 37 percent of patients there was a greater than 20 percent decrease in triglycerides.
About 8 percent of patients had a 20 percent or greater increase. Almost two-thirds of patients showed no change in HDL; 78 percent showed no change in total cholesterol.
The trial results, Dr. Lohrisch said, suggest "that from the point of view of cholesterol and triglyceride parameters, exemestane is safe for exploration of benefit in the chemoprevention and adjuvant settings."
William Gradishar, MD, chairman of the communications committee of ASCO and professor of medicine at Northwestern University School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, said that clinicians are not overly concerned about serum lipids in patients who have metastatic breast cancer.
However, he said, "when considering a drug to be used in the adjuvant or chemopreventive settings-women who are considered well after curative breast cancer surgery-then blood lipids are an important consideration."
He said the study positions exemestane to be considered in chemoprevention trials or for long-term treatment of breast cancer survivors
Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below 
