GOOD NEWS for some women with breast cancer!

If you:

1.  are postmenopausal
2.  have estrogen positive, HER 2 negative breast cancer 
3.  have had a recurrence or progression of disease while taking Femara (letrozole) or Arimidex (anastrozole)

you should know that the FDA recently approved a NEW TREATMENT REGIMEN using a drug called Afinitor (everolimus) in combination with Aromasin (exemestane).

This represents the first major advance for patients with advanced estrogen sensitive breast cancer since aromatase inhibitors (Femara, Arimidex, Aromasin) were introduced more than 15 years ago!  

Afinitor is a drug which affects the mTOR pathway and has been used for other cancers, but now has been shown to be effective in breast cancer.
The mTOR pathway is just one of hundreds of pathways in cells that lead to reproduction.  Afinitor inhibits this pathway, thus causing destruction of the cancer cell. 

Aromasin is an aromatase inhibitor.  Aromatase is an enzyme that promotes the conversion of testosterone to estrogen in women (and men).  Inhibitors of aromatase, therefore, result in less production of estrogen. If there is less estrogen, then there is less chance for estrogen sensitive breast cancer cells to grow. 

If you or someone you know fits the above criteria, ask your oncologist about this new treatment. 

http://www.chemotherapyadvisor.com/everolimus-exemestane-approved-for-recurrent-hrher2-breast-cancer/article/251298/