The evolving role of letrozole in the adjuvant setting: first results from the large, phase III, randomized trial BIG 1-98

Abstract

Tamoxifen has been a standard adjuvant therapy, despite its limited 5-year efficacy window and risk of thromboembolism and endometrial malignancy. The potent aromatase inhibitor letrozole (Femara) has emerged as a viable alternative to tamoxifen for the treatment of advanced, metastatic breast cancer, as well as in the neoadjuvant and extended adjuvant settings. Here we describe the first efficacy and safety analysis of BIG 1-98, a large, randomized, independently conducted clinical trial designed specifically to assess and compare the efficacy of sequential or up-front use of letrozole and/or tamoxifen as adjuvant therapy for patients with early breast cancer. The analysis reported here combined the monotherapy arms of letrozole and tamoxifen with the truncated sequential arms. Patients randomized to letrozole had a 19% reduction in the risk of a disease-free survival event (hazard ratio 0.81; P=0.003), especially reducing distant metastases (hazard ratio 0.73; P=0.0012). These results establish letrozole as part of standard adjuvant therapy for postmenopausal women with endocrine-responsive breast cancer.