51 ( 2.1) 89 ( 3.6) - - - -
Thromboembolic Event2 71 ( 2.9) 111 ( 4.5) - - - -
Other Cardiovascular1 260 (10.6) 256 (10.5) - - - -
Other Cardiovascular2 312 (12.7) 337 (13.8) - - - -
Second Malignancies1 53 ( 2.2) 78 ( 3.2) - - - -
Second Malignancies2 102 ( 4.2) 119 ( 4.9) - - - -
When considering all grades during study treatment, a higher incidence of events was seen for Femara regarding fractures (10.1% vs 7.1%), myocardial infarctions (1.0% vs 0.5%), and arthralgia (25.2% vs 20.4%) (Femara vs tamoxifen respectively). A higher incidence was seen for tamoxifen regarding thromboembolic events (2.1% vs 3.6%), endometrial hyperplasia/cancer (0.3% vs 2.9%), and endometrial proliferation disorders (0.3% vs 1.8%) (Femara vs tamoxifen respectively).
At a median follow up of 73 months, a higher incidence of events was seen for Femara (13.8%) than for tamoxifen (10.5%) regarding fractures. A higher incidence was seen for tamoxifen compared to Femara regarding thromboembolic events (4.5% vs 2.9%), and endometrial hyperplasia or cancer (2.9% vs 0.4%) (tamoxifen vs Femara, respectively).
Bone Study: Results of a phase 3 safety trial in 262 postmenopausal women with resected receptor positive early breast cancer in the adjuvant setting comparing the effect on lumbar spine (L2-L4) bone mineral density (BMD) of adjuvant treatment with letrozole to that with tamoxifen showed at 24 months a median decrease in lumbar spine BMD of 4.1% in the letrozole arm compared to a median increase of 0.3% in the tamoxifen arm (difference = 4.4%) (P<0.0001). No patients with a normal BMD at baseline became osteoporotic over the 2 years and only 1 patient with osteopenia at baseline (T score of -1.9) developed osteoporosis during the treatment period (assessment by central review). The results for total hip BMD were similar, although the differences between the two treatments were less pronounced. During the 2 year period, fractures were reported by 4 of 103 patients (4%) in the letrozole arm, and 6 of 97 patients (6%) in the tamoxifen arm.
Lipid Study: In a phase 3 safety trial in 262 postmenopausal women with resected receptor positive early breast cancer at 24 months comparing the effects on lipid profiles of adjuvant letrozole to tamoxifen, 12% of patients on letrozole had at least one total cholesterol value of a higher CTCAE grade than at baseline compared with 4% of patients on tamoxifen.
6.2 Extended Adjuvant Treatment of Early Breast Cancer, Median Treatment Duration of 24 MonthsThe median duration of extended adjuvant treatment was 24 months and the median duration of follow-up for safety was 28 months for patients receiving Femara and placebo.
Table 2 describes the adverse reactions occurring at a frequency of at least 5% in any treatment group during treatment. Most adverse reactions reported were Grade 1 and Grade 2 based on the Common Toxicity Criteria Version 2.0. In the extended adjuvant setting, the reported drug-related adverse reactions that were significantly different from placebo were hot flashes, arthralgia/arthritis, and myalgia.
Table 2: Percentage of Patients with Adverse Reactions Number (%) of Patients with Grade 1-4 Adverse Reaction Number (%) of Patients with Grade 3-4 Adverse Reaction
Femara Placebo Femara Placebo
N=2563 N=2573 N=2563 N=2573
Any Adverse Reaction 2232 (87.1) 2174 (84.5) 419 (16.3) 389 (15.1)
Vascular Disorders 1375 (53.6) 1230 (47.8) 59 (2.3) 74 (2.9)
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