ATAC at 100! (Months)

During the past decade, one focus of clinical research in early-stage breast cancer has been whether aromatase inhibitors lower risk for recurrence in postmenopausal patients with hormone receptor–positive (HR⁺) breast cancer. In several large international randomized trials, researchers have investigated whether treatment with an aromatase inhibitor after or in lieu of tamoxifen is superior to tamoxifen alone.

One of the largest of these, the industry-sponsored Arimidex, Tamoxifen, Alone or in Combination (ATAC) trial, includes long-term follow-up of more than 6200 participants (mean age, 64) with localized invasive breast cancer who were randomized to 5 years of tamoxifen or anastrozole (Arimidex). The 100-month follow-up results were pres…