FEMARA (letrozole tablets) - Breast Cancer Treatment

· New Beginnings

· Managing Fatigue

· After Treatment

New Beginnings After Treatment

You've completed your initial treatment. Congratulations. Now, you can focus on getting on with your life and staying as healthy as possible. With your future ahead of you, it's an exciting time, no doubt — but, for some women, it's an unexpectedly hard time as well. Many women feel lost and confused, and long for the attention they used to receive. Some women also feel abandoned by their doctors, even though they no longer need to see them as often.

As you navigate your way through this time of change, you're bound to go through countless emotions. We hope to help guide you through this stage of the journey by answering some of your questions and providing support. A few things to keep in mind as you continue to make sense of everything you've been through and move forward toward living a fulfilling life:

Redefine what is normal — Cancer changes you. You have to find your own way of building a new sense of "normal." That being said, don't let cancer define you — you can't go back and undo it but you are much more than your breast cancer.

Take it one day at a time — Don't try to do too much too soon. Be patient with yourself. And remember that every day counts in a way it never did before.

Plan for the future — You have every right to look forward to the future. Make the most of it.

Stay connected — Whether it's friends, family or a support group, love, friendship, compassion and understanding can be extremely therapeutic.

For more information about new beginnings after treatment, visit our breast cancer organizations page.

Indication

Femara� (letrozole tablets) is approved for the adjuvant (following surgery) treatment of postmenopausal women with hormone receptor�positive early stage breast cancer. The benefits of Femara in clinical trials are based on 24 months of treatment. Further follow-up will be needed to determine long-term results, safety and efficacy.

Femara is also approved for the extended adjuvant treatment of early stage breast cancer in postmenopausal women who are within three months of completion of five years of tamoxifen therapy. The benefits of Femara in clinical trials are based on 24 months of treatment. Further follow-up will be needed to determine long-term results, including side effects.

In addition, Femara is approved for the treatment of postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor�positive or estrogen receptor�unknown breast cancer that has spread to another part of the body (metastatic cancer).

Ask your oncologist if Femara is right for you.

Important Safety Information

You should not take Femara if you are premenopausal. Your doctor should discuss the need for adequate birth control if you have the potential to become pregnant, if you are not sure of your postmenopausal status, or if you recently became postmenopausal. Femara is only indicated for postmenopausal women. Talk to your doctor if you're allergic to Femara or any of its ingredients. Femara should be used with caution by nursing mothers. You should not take Femara if you are pregnant as it may cause fetal harm. Some women reported fatigue and dizziness with Femara. Until you know how it affects you, use caution before driving or operating machinery. Some patients taking Femara had an increase in cholesterol. Additional follow-up is needed to determine the risk of bone fracture associated with long-term use of Femara.

In the adjuvant setting, commonly reported side effects are generally mild to moderate. Side effects that are comparable between Femara and tamoxifen include night sweats, weight gain, nausea and tiredness. Side effects seen more often with tamoxifen versus Femara were hot flashes and vaginal bleeding. Joint pain was experienced more often with Femara versus tamoxifen. The incidence of stroke was 1.1% for women on Femara and 1% for women on tamoxifen, and the incidence of other cardiovascular events was 6.6% for Femara versus 6.2% for tamoxifen. The percentage of women on Femara reporting bone fracture was 5.6% versus 4% for women on tamoxifen. The percentage of women reporting osteoporosis was 2% for Femara versus 1.1% for tamoxifen. Additional side effects for both Femara and tamoxifen are heart attack, thromboembolic events, endometrial cancer and second malignancies.

In the extended adjuvant setting, commonly reported side effects are generally mild to moderate. Those seen more often with Femara versus placebo were hot flashes (50% vs 43%), joint pain (22% vs 18%) and muscle pain (7% vs 5%). Other side effects, which were comparable to placebo, include fatigue (34% vs 32%), swelling due to fluid retention (18% vs 16%), headache (20% vs 20%), increase in sweating (24% vs 22%) and increase in cholesterol (16% vs 16%). The percentage of patients on Femara versus placebo reporting a fracture was 5.9% versus 5.5%. The percentage of patients reporting osteoporosis was 6.9% versus 5.5%. Bisphosphonates, drugs to increase bone strength, were given to 21.1% of Femara patients and 18.7% of placebo patients. Additional side effects seen in study are arthritis, dizziness, constipation, nausea and cardiovascular ischemic events.

In the metastatic cancer setting, commonly reported side effects are generally mild to moderate and may include bone pain, hot flashes, back pain, nausea, joint pain, shortness of breath, tiredness, coughing, constipation, limb pain, chest pain and headache.

Femara is a once-daily, convenient prescription tablet.

For additional safety information, please see the prescribing information.