In a study published in October in the American Journal of Surgery, researchers at Oregon Health & Science University found that 46% of aromatase inhibitor patients and 39% of tamoxifen patients were also taking medications to ease the side effects.
In a study presented in October at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting, Presant found that side effects, particularly joint pain and bone pain, led 20% of women to discontinue taking aromatase inhibitors.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday January 31, 2007 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 37 words Type of Material: Correction
Breast cancer: An article on breast cancer drugs in Monday's Health section said Dr. Cary Presant is past president of the American Cancer Society. He is past president of the California division of the American Cancer Society.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Monday February 05, 2007 Home Edition Health Part F Page 6 Features Desk 1 inches; 32 words Type of Material: Correction
Breast cancer: A Jan. 29 article on breast cancer drugs misstated Dr. Cary Presant's title. He is past president of the California division of the American Cancer Society, not the national organization.
A nonrandomized survey of 612 women taken by Breast Cancer Action, a national advocacy organization based in San Francisco, showed that 96% of women on aromatase inhibitors reported side effects and 30% discontinued use of the drugs. That study was also presented at the San Antonio meeting.
Connie Brooks, 64, had a lumpectomy and radiation therapy for breast cancer in 2005. She agreed with her doctor's advice to take an aromatase inhibitor. But within two weeks, Brooks had developed pain in her toes, followed by tingling and numbness in her feet and fingers. Constant stomach pain developed shortly after that, and then her breasts began to hurt.
After trying a different aromatase inhibitor with no improvement, Brooks, a former teacher who lives in Old Bridge, N.J., called it quits. She had been on the drugs only eight months.
"You always want to know if there is something you can do to keep it from coming back or metastasizing," she says. "But it's also worrisome to have these side effects."
Researchers say it's not surprising to learn that aromatase inhibitors have more side effects -- and more persistent side effects -- than first thought. People who take medications in clinical trials are generally healthier than the wide variety of patients who take a drug once it is available to all, says Presant, who is past president of the American Cancer Society.
"Once you start to use it with everybody, people with other illnesses, then you start to see some people might be more sensitive to the medications," he says.
Partridge adds that unknown side effects often emerge once a drug reaches the marketplace and has been in widespread use for several years. "Once we start giving it more and more, we learn more about toxicity. That always happens," she says.
Even studies on tamoxifen, which has been in use much longer, are showing that side effects may cause more problems for women than was first thought.
