Skip Navigation



Hum. Reprod. Advance Access published online on October 6, 2005
Human Reproduction, doi:10.1093/humrep/dei322
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF ) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
21/2/545    most recent
dei322v1
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Duffy, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Duffy, S.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Received July 4, 2005
Revised August 22, 2005
Accepted August 26, 2005

Article

The ATAC (‘Arimidex’, Tamoxifen, Alone or in Combination) adjuvant breast cancer trial: first results of the endometrial sub-protocol following 2 years of treatment

S. Duffy 1*, T.L. Jackson 2, M. Lansdown 1, K. Philips 3, M. Wells 4, S. Pollard 5, G. Clack 6, M. Coibion 7, A.R. Bianco 8, and on behalf of the ATAC Trialists’ Group

1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, St James’ University Hospital, Leeds LS9 7TF, UK
2 The James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough TS4 3BW, UK
3 Castle Hill Hospital, Cottingham, North Humberside HU16 5JQ, UK
4 Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield S10 2JF, UK
5 Northern and Yorkshire Clinical Trials Research Unit, Leeds LS2 9NG, UK
6 AstraZeneca, Macclesfield SK10 4TF, UK
7 Bordet Institute, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
8 Universita Degli Studi Di Napoli Federico II, Napoli 5-80131, Italy

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
S. Duffy, E-mail: Medsrd{at}stjames.leeds.ac.uk


  Abstract

BACKGROUND: Tamoxifen treatment results in a doubling of the risk of endometrial cancer after 1-2 years of treatment and a quadrupling after 5 years. Anastrozole, a third-generation aromatase inhibitor, with superior efficacy to tamoxifen, may also offer tolerability benefits in terms of effects on the endometrium. METHODS AND RESULTS: A sub-protocol of the ATAC trial compared the incidence/type of intrauterine changes following treatment with these agents in a subgroup of patients (n = 285) from the main trial. After 2 years anastrozole treatment, endometrial thickness remained ≤ 5 mm (baseline: 3.0 mm); in patients receiving tamoxifen, endometrial thickness increased by 3.2 mm to 7.0 mm, with a similar trend in the combination group. At baseline, 26/285 patients (9.1%) had endometrial abnormalities, most commonly polyps. After 2 years the number of endometrial abnormalities appeared lower with anastrozole treatment compared with tamoxifen although these differences were not statistically significant (odds ratio: 0.44; 95% confidence interval 0.146, 1.314; P = 0.14). Most abnormalities occurred within the first year of treatment (anastrozole: 4/6; tamoxifen: 7/10; combination: 10/16; total: 21/32). Fewer patients in the anastrozole group (1.4%) required medical intervention (tamoxifen 12.5%; combination 13.6%). CONCLUSIONS: Fewer endometrial abnormalities occurred during 2 years treatment with anastrozole compared with tamoxifen although statistical significance was not reached in this sub-protocol analysis.

Keywords: anastrozole/ATAC/breast cancer/endometrial pathology/tamoxifen.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Clin. Cancer Res.Home page
B. Gerber, A. Krause, T. Reimer, I. Mylonas, J. Makovitzky, G. Kundt, and W. Janni
Anastrozole versus Tamoxifen Treatment in Postmenopausal Women with Endocrine-Responsive Breast Cancer and Tamoxifen-Induced Endometrial Pathology
Clin. Cancer Res., February 15, 2006; 12(4): 1245 - 1250.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.