According to a new study published in the Clinical Cancer Research, adding epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor gefitinib (Iressa) to anastrozole (Arimidex) improved progression-free survival in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer.
The study randomized 93 postmenopausal breast cancer patients with hormone receptor-positive metastatic disease to gefitinib plus anastrozole or anastrozole.
Women who received gefitinib plus anastrozole had longer median progression-free survival (14.7 vs. 8.4 months) and higher clinical benefit rates (49% vs. 34%).
Adverse events were mostly mild in both groups, but the incidence of treatment-related adverse events was higher in the gefitinib plus anastrozole arm (79%) than in the anastrozole arm (38%). Serious adverse events, however, occurred with similar frequency in the gefitinib plus anastrozole arm (14%) and the anastrozole arm (16%).
Clin Cancer Res 2010;16:1904-1914.
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