Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2015 May 6:7:493-9.
doi: 10.2147/IJWH.S69907. eCollection 2015.

Clinical utilities of aromatase inhibitors in breast cancer

Saranya Chumsri  1
Affiliations
Review

Clinical utilities of aromatase inhibitors in breast cancer

Saranya Chumsri. Int J Womens Health. .

Abstract

Aromatase is an enzyme that converts testosterones to estrogens. Inhibition of this enzyme has been shown to have several clinical utilities in breast cancer. Currently, there are three aromatase inhibitors (AIs) in clinical use, namely anastrozole, letrozole, and exemestane. AIs have been used in various clinical settings for breast cancer, ranging from chemoprevention in breast cancer to treating breast cancer in both early stage in the adjuvant setting and metastatic disease. This article reviews mechanism of action, AI classification, and clinical utilities of AIs in various clinical settings in the context of breast cancer.

Keywords: aromatase inhibitor; breast cancer; endocrine therapy.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Thompson EA, Jr, Siiteri PK. Utilization of oxygen and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate by human placental microsomes during aromatization of androstenedione. J Biol Chem. 1974;249(17):5364–5372. - PubMed
    1. Chen SA, Besman MJ, Sparkes RS, et al. Human aromatase: cDNA cloning, Southern blot analysis, and assignment of the gene to chromosome 15. DNA. 1988;7(1):27–38. - PubMed
    1. Fisher B, Costantino JP, Redmond CK, Fisher ER, Wickerham DL, Cronin WM. Endometrial cancer in tamoxifen-treated breast cancer patients: findings from the National Surgical adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) B-14. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1994;86(7):527–537. - PubMed
    1. Jordan VC. Tamoxifen: toxicities and drug resistance during the treatment and prevention of breast cancer. Annu Rev Pharmacol Toxicol. 1995;35:195–211. - PubMed
    1. Schwarzel WC, Kruggel WG, Brodie HJ. Studies on the mechanism of estrogen biosynthesis. 8. The development of inhibitors of the enzyme system in human placenta. Endocrinology. 1973;92(3):866–880. - PubMed