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Adjuvant Therapy

Adjuvant Therapy

After surgery, hormone receptor-positive early breast cancer may return

Did you know? After surgery, hormone receptor-positive early breast cancer may return.

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After surgery, breast cancer returns in about one out of three postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive early stage breast cancer.

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Lymph node status and tumor size are two major factors in the risk of breast cancer returning. Other factors may include menopausal status and family history.


After initial treatment, oncologists often recommend additional treatments to help reduce the risk of hormone receptor-positive early breast cancer returning. These additional treatments are known as adjuvant therapy (following surgery).

What is adjuvant therapy?

Adjuvant therapy is used to help reduce the risk of hormone receptor-positive early breast cancer returning after initial treatment. It may include chemotherapy, radiation, and/or hormone therapy.

  • Radiation is most often given after lumpectomy to destroy breast cancer cells in a specific area.
  • Chemotherapy is given to destroy breast cancer cells throughout the body.
  • Femara® (letrozole tablets) is a form of hormone therapy known as an aromatase inhibitor, which works by reducing the amount of estrogen produced in the bodies of postmenopausal women. While tamoxifen prevents estrogen from being used as fuel to help the cancer grow, Femara seeks to prevent cancer cells from developing by starving them of estrogen, thus denying them the chance to grow or spread.

Hormone therapy for the treatment of breast cancer should not be confused with hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which is often prescribed to women without cancer and during or after perimenopause/menopause in women who wish to add hormones to the body to counter the effects of menopause.

Femara 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.

Talk with your doctor to find out if Femara may be right for you.

Remember to take your medicine as prescribed by your doctor.

Click here to learn why it's so important to commit to reduce your risk of hormone receptor-positive early breast cancer returning.


Learn more about Femara patient programs Learn more about Femara patient programs

*The Femara Cares Program™ Prescription Discount Card allows you to pay only $10 for your Femara prescriptions, if you are eligible. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation will pay the rest, up to a maximum of $800 in any 12-month period, toward your Femara prescriptions. This card is subject to change or termination at any time.

Not all patients will receive a total of $800 per year off their prescriptions. Total value of card determined by applicable patient co-pay or out-of-pocket cost.

The Femara Cares Program™ Prescription Discount Card is not valid for prescriptions for which payment may be made in whole or in part under federal or state healthcare programs, including but not limited to, Medicare or Medicaid, or for residents in MA. Limitations apply.

 

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). Femara is also indicated for the treatment of advanced breast cancer in postmenopausal women with disease progression following antiestrogen therapy.

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 in postmenopausal women. Talk to your doctor if you're allergic to Femara or any of its ingredients. You should not take Femara if you are pregnant as it may cause harm to an unborn child. 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. The most common side effects seen with Femara include hot flashes, joint pain, night sweats, weight gain, nausea, tiredness, other heart-related events, and bone fractures. Other less commonly reported side effects include vaginal bleeding, blood clots, other cancers, osteoporosis, stroke, heart attack, and endometrial cancer.

In the extended adjuvant setting, commonly reported side effects are generally mild to moderate. Commonly reported side effects for Femara include hot flashes, fatigue, joint pain, headache, increase in sweating, swelling due to fluid retention, increase in cholesterol, dizziness, constipation, nausea, heart-related problems, muscle pain, osteoporosis, arthritis, and bone fracture.

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.

You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call
1-800-FDA-1088.