VIDEO: Femara(R) helps protect against return of breast cancer even when treatment starts several years after completing tamoxif...( - Post-unblinding analysis of MA-...),Health

- Post-unblinding analysis of MA-17 trial data provides evidence for potential benefit of starting Femara up to seven years after finishing

tamoxifen - Femara only member of aromatase inhibitor class with data demonstrating

this potential benefit, as published in Journal of Clinical Oncology - Half of all breast cancer recurrences occur five or more years after

diagnosis - Separate analysis published in Annals of Oncology affirms significant

advantages of Femara when taken after standard tamoxifen therapy

EAST HANOVER, N.J., March 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Women may reduce the risk of their breast cancer returning by starting treatment with Femara(R) (letrozole tablets) anywhere from one to seven years after finishing tamoxifen therapy, according to a new analysis published today in the Journal of Clinical Oncology(1).

To view the Multimedia News Release, go to:

http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/novartis/32189/

The exploratory analysis of post-unblinding results from the landmark MA-17 trial, led by the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group, evaluated a subset of women in the original placebo group when the study was unblinded.

The analysis shows 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(1). In addition, the risk of cancer spreading to other areas of the body was reduced by 61%. The median period before starting Femara was 31 months.

"The important message for women is that it may never be too late for many breast cancer survivors to do more to protect themselves against the ongoing risk of disease recurrence," said Paul Goss, M.D., PhD., of the Massachusetts General Hospital in Bo
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