Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada announced the Health Canada approval of Femara (letrozole) as post-surgery treatment for postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive early breast cancer.

This approval is based on the results from the study which showed that women taking Femara had a significant reduction in the return of
their cancer (19 per cent).

More importantly, Femara reduced the spread of the cancer to other parts of the body by 27 per cent as compared to the gold standard, tamoxifen.

"Clinical studies have clearly demonstrated the superiority of Femara
against tamoxifen as first-line therapy and Femara has already been proven to significantly reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence after five years of tamoxifen therapy," says Dr. Kathy Pritchard, Head, Clinical Trials and Epidemiology, Toronto Sunnybrook Regional Cancer Centre and Professor, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto.

"A great fear for women who have been treated for breast cancer is its recurrence as well as spread to other parts of the body. Femara significantly enhances our standard of care for women with breast cancer and will help address these fears."

These results are extremely important for postmenopausal women with breast cancer as 20 to 40 per cent of them develop distant metastasis and more than 50 per cent of recurrences of breast cancer result from it spreading to other parts of the body.

Femara is the first and only aromatase inhibitor proven to improve disease-free survival and reduce distant metastasis for both adjuvant and extended adjuvant (after five years of standard tamoxifen) therapy.

"We know that for women whose breast cancer spreads to other sites, they may be at greater risk of dying from their disease," says Dianna Scheurer, President, Canadian Breast Cancer Network. "We welcome a new treatment option that may increase their chance of staying cancer-free, which can give these women hope."

Elsa Kisber, a Montreal breast cancer survivor was prescribed tamoxifen after her surgery and chemotherapy, but after suffering from serious side effects, was switched to Femara.

"I was diagnosed with breast cancer three
years ago. Today, I am confident that cancer is now part of my past and I can live cancer free. Based on research I did and the counsel from my oncologist, Femara has shown to reduce the risk of the disease reappearing and that's why I feel it will help me never have to face this disease again."