Recurrence of breast cancer in post-menopausal women can significantly be reduced with the help of two generic drugs. The two inexpensive classes of drugs can even lower the rate of disease, according to the new study.
Agence France-Presse report, taking both medicines is immensely beneficial, it can boost the benefits and it can also neutralize each other's undesirable side effects.
According to the published in the journal 'The Lancet' the first meta-study, which was collected from nine trials in 30,000 post- menopausal women, comparing the standard endocrine therapy with tamoxifen to endocrine treatment with aromatase inhibitors another class of drugs. The result shows that treatment with "aromatase inhibitors" has higher rates of survival after five years of study.
After the treatment started, it showed a huge improvement in the medical community, for the symptoms that recurred in breast cancer was cut by a third, as well as the risk of death went down to 15 percent. As for the patients who didn't take any treatment, this new treatment helped drop 40 percent of death risk from breast cancer.
Breast cancer typically strikes women after menopausal stage and although cancer patients went through a surgery, patients are still at risk for human bodies having its own hormones that can cause cancer cells to grow. Endocrine therapies are designed to disrupt the growth of cancer cells. However, aromatase inhibitor treatment has its own side effects.
A second meta- study focus on the other class of drugs, "bisphosphonates." Which are commonly used for treating a weakening bone condition or known as osteoporosis. After two years of research, it shows that it can increase the rates of survival for it can reduce the risk of cancer recurring in women.
Although, researchers found out that the therapy did not reduce the risk of new cancers developing in the opposite breast, specialist still urges that the treatment should be considered for "routine use."
According to Richard Gray of Oxford University, "The main side effect of aromatase inhibitors is an increase in bone loss and fractures, while bisphosphonates reduce bone loss."
