#VisualAbstract: Overall Survival with Fulvestrant plus Anastrozole in Metastatic Breast Cancer

1. A randomized control trial of patients with hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer compared survival outcomes between patients who received combined anastrozole and fulvestrant therapy versus those receiving anastrozole alone, concluded that the combined therapy led to improved disease progression-free survival and overall survival rates.

2. There were no significant differences found in grade 3 or higher toxic side effect rates between groups.

Evidence Rating Level: 1 (Excellent)

Study Rundown: Metastatic hormone-receptor positive breast cancer has long been associated with poor survival outcomes due to resistance to traditional therapies over time. In a breakthrough study first reported in NEJM in 2012, researchers from the S0226 trial indicated that such patients may derive some benefit from a combination therapy including anastrozole (an aromatase inhibitor) and fulvestrant (a selective estrogen receptor degrader). The initial results followed patients for a period of three years and found that the combined therapy led to increased overall survival rates and disease-free progressive survival rates when compared to a group of patients taking anastrozole alone.  This current analysis expands on those initial results, including five additional years of follow-up data. Researchers found that their overall survival and disease progression-free survival rates were still higher among patients who received the combined therapy. They also found that the safety profiles of each arm were not significantly different. This study strengthens the case for the use of combined therapy among patients with metastatic hormone-positive breast cancer.

Click to read the study in NEJM

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