June 24-27, 2004 Ovierview of MASCC 2004 Symposium
Overview
of MASCC 2004 Symposium View new iunformation arising from the 16th International
MASCC/ISOO Symposium Supportive Care in Cancer, held
June 24-27, in Miami Beach
The Chemotherapy of Colorectal Cancer: Where are we in 2003? Presented
by Dr. Eric Van Cutsem Ph.D. of the University Hospital of Gasthuisberg,
at the 5th International Congress of Persepectives in Colorectal Cancer
(PICC) held in Barcelona, Spain in June of 2003.
In
the Intergroup Exemestane Study (IES) involving over 4,700 post-menopausal
women in 37 countries with breast cancer who were followed for an
average of 31 months according to a current treatment paradigm,
post-menopausal women with estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer
receive tamoxifen for five years after surgery to prevent recurrence,
post-menopausal breast cancer patients who switched from tamoxifen
to Aromasin (exemestane tablets) had a significantly reduced chance
of recurrence and increased disease-free survival compared with
patients who remained on tamoxifen, according to new data published
in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The
IES study demonstrated that patients who switched to Aromasin after
two or three years of taking tamoxifen were more likely to remain
cancer free than those who continued on tamoxifen. Patients receiving
Aromasin experienced a 32 percent reduction in the risk of recurrence
of the disease at three years, as compared to those continuing on
tamoxifen. This reduction includes fewer local and distant tumors
as well as new cancer in the other breast.
