Onkológia 3/2009

Experience with exemestane in daily practise

The aim of this prospective observational study phase IV was evalutation of tolerability and experience of routinne dialy practice with exemestane in the treatment of postmenopausal women with metastatic breast cancer in the second line sequence after failure of antiestrogen treatment. The female patients taking exemestane were prospective monitored during 6 months in 16 centres in Slovakia. This study was not designed to assess the efficacy, but the main objectives were to assess the tolerability, safety and satisfaction with the study drug at all. A total of 75 patients were enrolled, of which 34 (45.3 %) subjects discontinued from the study prematurely. The majority of discontinuations were because of disease progression. In total there were 14 (18.6 %) deaths reported, 11 (14.6 %) was due to disease progression and 3 (4 %) because of heart failure. None of the deaths was considered related to the study drug. Althought there are certain limitations in more detailed assessment, this observational study has confirmed efficacy and safety of exemestane. Exemestane represents an active treatment alternative in postmenopausal women with advanced breast cancer pretreated with tamoxifen.

Keywords: exemestane, breast cancer, postmenopausal, study