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Letrozole Versus Tamoxifen in Breast Cancer

Comparing efficacy in IDC and ILC

Publish date:: August 4, 2015

The magnitude of benefit of adjuvant letrozole is greater for patients diagnosed with lobular carcinoma versus ductal carcinoma, according to a study of 2,923 women diagnosed with early-stage invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) or classic invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC). After a median follow-up of 8.1 years, researchers found:

• In patients with ILC, there was a 66% reduction in the hazard of a disease-free survival event with letrozole for luminal B (LB) subtypes and a 50% reduction for luminal A (LA) subtypes.

• In patients with IDC, there a 35% reduction in the hazard of a disease-free survival event with letrozole for LB, but no difference between treatments with letrozole or tamoxifen was seen for LA.

Citation: Filho OM, Giobbe-Hurder A, Mallon E, et al. Relative effectiveness of letrozole compared with tamoxifen for patients with lobular carcinoma in the BIG 1-98 trial. [Published online ahead of print July 27, 2015]. J Clin Oncol. doi:10.1200/JCO.2015.60.8133.

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