Worries remain
Statisticians Dr John Bryant and Dr Norman Wolmark, also writing in the New England Journal, said that the decision to stop the research “undeniably diminished” the clinical usefulness of the data.
“Although the results demonstrate a meaningful biologic effect of letrozole therapy, they do not demonstrate a significant survival benefit.”
They said that “concern” about long-term side effects remained, and that the study, by finishing early, had failed to resolve the question it had been set up to test.
However, in the UK, cancer experts welcomed the results.
Professor Ian Smith, Head of the Breast Unit at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London - one of the centres taking part in the trial, said: “This is one of the most important advances in the treatment of postmenopausal women with breast cancer, and is a further valuable step in preventing disease recurrence.”
Professor Jack Cuzick, from Cancer Research UK, said: “Letrozole is a very similar drug to anastrozole, an approved treatment for breast cancer in postmenopausal women which Cancer Research UK is testing as a preventive drug in women at high risk of the disease.
“Both drugs are aromatase inhibitors and work by halting the production of oestrogen - the hormone responsible for the development of many breast cancers.
“The new findings are further evidence that aromatase inhibitors look like becoming the most effective hormone treatments for breast cancer in postmenopausal women, with the potential to save a great many lives.”
Doctors are already allowed to use letrozole in the UK for the treatment of advanced breast cancer in some women.
Delyth Morgan, Chief Executive of Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said: “The results of this study look very promising - this drug offers a new way in which disease recurrence could be prevented and increases the arsenal of therapies available for women with breast cancer.
“However, since the trial was terminated early we would welcome more research to establish the long-term effectiveness and side effects of this drug.”
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