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Effect of the potent aromatase inhibitor fadrozole hydrochloride (CGS 16949A) in postmenopausal women with breast carcinoma
Author(s) -
M. Costa Luis A.,
Kopreski Michael S.,
Demers Laurence M.,
Chinchilli Ver M.,
Santen Richard J.,
Harvey Harold A.,
Lipton Allan
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0142(19990101)85:1<100::aid-cncr14>3.0.co;2-5
Subject(s) - medicine , endocrinology , estrone sulfate , estrone , estrogen , aromatase inhibitor , triglyceride , very low density lipoprotein , antithrombin , tibolone , lipoprotein , high density lipoprotein , breast cancer , aromatase , cholesterol , cancer , heparin
BACKGROUND Fadrozole hydrochloride (CGS 16949A) is a highly potent, nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor that significantly lowers estrogen levels in postmenopausal women and can be effective therapy for patients with advanced hormone‐dependent breast carcinoma. Circulating estradiol, estrone, and estrone sulfate are reduced to undetectable levels within weeks of the initiation of therapy. Before this study, it was not known whether this decrease in serum estrogen levels results in altered parameters associated with cardiovascular disease. The authors examined the levels of several critical blood parameters that are important to cardiovascular risk for heart disease and thromboembolic disorders in patients treated with fadrozole. METHODS Cholesterol, triglyceride, low density lipoprotein (LDL), high density lipoprotein (HDL), very low density lipoprotein (VLDL), antithrombin III, protein C, protein S, and fibrinogen were serially measured in 21 postmenopausal women with advanced breast carcinoma treated with various doses of fadrozole (1.8 mg/day, n = 3; 2.0 mg/day, n = 13; 4.0 mg/day, n = 5) over 3–24 months (mean, 15.8 months). A repeated measure analysis of variance was applied to each cardiovascular variable to assess changes in the response over time. Analyses were performed separately for each dose group and were also pooled over the dose groups. RESULTS There was no statistically significant change over time in lipid parameters, namely, total cholesterol ( P = 0.57), triglyceride ( P = 0.27), LDL ( P = 0.99), HDL ( P = 0.30), and VLDL ( P = 0.43), over the 24 months of therapy. There were also no significant changes in coagulation factors, namely, antithrombin III ( P = 0.41), protein C ( P = 0.49), or protein S ( P = 0.31), over the 24 months. However, an increase in fibrinogen that occurred over time did reach statistical significance ( P = 0.011). CONCLUSIONS With the exception of acute phase reactant fibrinogen, this study did not identify an increase in parameters associated with cardiovascular disease in women treated with fadrozole, a potent aromatase inhibitor. Cancer 1999;85:100–3. © 1999 American Cancer Society.