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William J Gradishar

Publications and source records attributed to William J Gradishar.

38 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

A roundtable discussion of aromatase inhibitors as therapy for breast cancer.

This article summarizes the conclusions of a meeting of diverse breast cancer experts who discussed issues, controversies, and new clinical trial results relevant to the use of aromatase inhibitors for treating postmenopausal women with breast cancer. The new generation of aromatase inhibitors (anastrozole, letrozole, exemestane) have largely replaced megestrol acetate as a second-line therapy in postmenopausal women with hormone-responsive advanced breast cancer. In addition, anastrozole and letrozole have been shown to be superior to tamoxifen for first-line therapy. Finally, recent results suggest that anastrozole may be superior to tamoxifen as adjuvant therapy for early stage disease in postmenopausal women with hormone-responsive disease.

Anastrozole↗

Controversies in the therapy of early stage breast cancer.

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy among U.S. women, with more than 200,000 new cases diagnosed annually. In the U.S., mortality from breast cancer has declined in recent years as a result of more widespread screening, leading to earlier detection, as well as advances in the adjuvant treatment of early-stage disease. It is widely accepted that the appropriate use of adjuvant chemotherapy and endocrine therapy improves the disease-free and overall survival of patients with early-stage breast cancer. It is, therefore, standard clinical practice to administer adjuvant systemic therapy to patients with node-positive and high-risk, node-negative breast cancer. There remain, however, many controversies in the primary systemic therapy of breast cancer, which are discussed in this review.

Anthracyclines↗