Ovarian Suppression for Young Women with Breast Cancer

Adjuvant endocrine therapy for premenopausal patients with breast cancer has been limited to tamoxifen because functioning ovaries negate the effects of aromatase inhibitors. Small studies have shown that ovarian suppression (OFS) alone reduces the risk for breast cancer recurrence, but an appropriately sized, rigorously conducted trial to evaluate the effect of OFS in young patients has been lacking.

Now, investigators have conducted a prospective, randomized, phase III trial (the Suppression of Ovarian Function Trial [SOFT]), in which more than 3000 premenopausal women were randomized to 5 years of adjuvant tamoxifen therapy alone, 5 years of tamoxifen plus OFS, or 5 years of exemestane plus OFS. OFS was achieved with the gonadotropin-rele…