Key clinical point: A 10-year vs 7-year treatment with aromatase inhibitors (anastrozole) in patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive breast cancer does not yield survival benefit but increases the risk for bone fracture.
Major finding: Anastrozole treatment for 10 years vs. 7 years was not associated with a significant difference in disease-free survival ( P = 0.90). The risk of clinical bone fracture was higher with 10-year treatment (hazard ratio, 1.35; 95% confidence interval, 1.00-1.84).
Study details: The phase 3 Secondary Adjuvant Long Term Study With Arimidex (SALSA) trial studied 3,484 postmenopausal women with HR-positive breast cancer who had received anastrozole for 5 years and were randomly assigned to therapy extension by 2 years (for a total of 7 years) or 5 years (for a total of 10 years).
Disclosures: This study was supported by AstraZeneca and the Austrian Breast and Colorectal Cancer Study Group. The authors received grants, honoraria, personal/lecture/advisory/consulting/speaker fees, and/or travel/accommodation/expenses outside this work.
Source: Gnant M et al. New Engl J Med. 2021;385:395-405. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2104162 .