| Pharmacotherapeutic group: ATC Code: L02B G04 Non-steroidal aromatase inhibitor (inhibitor of oestrogen biosynthesis); antineoplastic agent.Pharmacodynamic effects The elimination of oestrogen-mediated stimulatory effects is a prerequisite for tumour response in cases where the growth of tumour tissue depends on the presence of oestrogens. In postmenopausal women, oestrogens are mainly derived from the action of the aromatase enzyme, which converts adrenal androgens - primarily androstenedione and testosterone - to oestrone (E1) and oestradiol (E2). The suppression of oestrogen biosynthesis in peripheral tissues and the cancer tissue itself can therefore be achieved by specifically inhibiting the aromatase enzyme. Letrozole is a non-steroidal aromatase inhibitor. It inhibits the aromatase enzyme by competitively binding to the haem of the cytochrome P450 subunit of the enzyme, resulting in a reduction of oestrogen biosynthesis in all tissues. In healthy postmenopausal women, single doses of 0.1, 0.5, and 2.5 mg letrozole suppress serum oestrone and oestradiol by 75-78% and 78% from baseline respectively. Maximum suppression is achieved in 48-78h. In postmenopausal patients with advanced breast cancer, daily doses of 0.1 to 5 mg suppress plasma concentration of oestradiol, oestrone, and oestrone sulphate by 75 - 95% from baseline in all patients treated. With doses of 0.5 mg and higher, many values of oestrone and oestrone sulphate are below the limit of detection in the assays, indicating that higher oestrogen suppression is achieved with these doses. Oestrogen suppression was maintained throughout treatment in all these patients. Letrozole is highly specific in inhibiting aromatase activity. Impairment of adrenal steroidogenesis has not been observed. No clinically relevant changes were found in the plasma concentrations of cortisol, aldosterone, 11-deoxycortisol, 17-hydroxy-progesterone, and ACTH or in plasma renin activity among postmenopausal patients treated with a daily dose of letrozole 0.1 to 5 mg. The ACTH stimulation test performed after 6 and 12 weeks of treatment with daily doses of 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2.5, and 5 mg did not indicate any attenuation of aldosterone or cortisol production. Thus, glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid supplementation is not necessary. No changes were noted in plasma concentrations of androgens (androstenedione and testosterone) among healthy postmenopausal women after 0.1, 0.5, and 2.5 mg single doses of letrozole or in plasma concentrations of androstenedione among postmenopausal patients treated with daily doses of 0.1 to 5 mg, indicating that the blockade of oestrogen biosynthesis does not lead to accumulation of androgenic precursors. Plasma levels of LH and FSH are not affected by letrozole in patients, nor is thyroid function as evaluated by TSH, T4 and T3 uptake. Adjuvant treatment A multicentre, double-blind study randomised over 8000 postmenopausal women with resected receptor-positive early breast cancer, to one of the following arms: A. tamoxifen for 5 years B. Letrozole for 5 years C. tamoxifen for 2 years followed by letrozole for 3 years D. Letrozole for 2 years followed by tamoxifen for 3 years.Data in Table 3 reflect results from non-switching arms (arms A and B) together with data truncated 30 days after the switch in the two switching arms (arms C and D). Patients have been followed for a median of 26 months, 76% of the patients for more than 2 years, and 16% (1252 patients) for 5 years or longer. The primary endpoint of the trial was disease-free survival (DFS) which was assessed as the time from randomisation to the earliest event of loco-regional or distant recurrence (metastases) of the primary disease, development of invasive contralateral breast cancer, appearance of a second non-breast primary tumour or death from any cause. Letrozole reduced the risk of recurrence by 19% compared with tamoxifen (hazard ratio 0.81; P=0.003). The 5-year DFS rates were 84.0% for letrozole and 81.4% for tamoxifen. The improvement in DFS with letrozole is seen as early as 12 months and is maintained beyond 5 years. Letrozole also significantly reduced the risk of recurrence compared with tamoxifen whether prior adjuvant chemotherapy was given (hazard ratio 0.72; P=0.018) or not (hazard ratio 0.84; P=0.044) and in node positive patients (hazard ratio 0.71; P=0.0002). A significant benefit of letrozole over tamoxifen is not yet evident in node negative patients (hazard ratio 0.98; P=0.888). There was no significant difference between treatments in overall survival (hazard ratio 0.86; P=0.155).Table 3 summarises the results. Table 3 Disease-free survival and overall survival (ITT population) | | Letrozole n=4003 | Tamoxifen n=4007 | Hazard ratio (95% CI) | P-value1 | | Disease-free survival (DFS)
(primary)
(protocol definition)
| 351
| 428
| 0.81
(0.70, 0.93)
| 0.0030
| | Disease-free survival
(ignoring second non-breast cancers)
| 296
| 369
| 0.79 (0.68, 0.92)
| 0.0024
| | Distant disease-free survival
(metastases) (secondary)
| 184
| 249
| 0.73
(0.60, 0.88)
| 0.0012
| | Contralateral breast cancer
(invasive) (secondary)
| 19
| 31
| 0.61
(0.35, 1.08)
| 0.0910
| | Overall survival
(secondary)
number of deaths
| 166
| 192
| 0.86
(0.70, 1.06)
| 0.1546
| | CI = Confidence interval
1
Logrank test, stratified by randomisation option and adjuvant chemotherapy
|
Treatment after standard adjuvant tamoxifen In a multicentre, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled study, performed in over 5100 postmenopausal patients with receptor-positive or unknown primary breast cancer, patients who had remained disease-free after completion of adjuvant treatment with tamoxifen (4.5 to 6 years) were randomly assigned either letrozole or placebo. The primary analysis conducted at a median follow-up of around 28 months (25% of the patients being followed-up for up to 38 months) showed that letrozole reduced the risk of recurrence by 42% compared with placebo (hazard ratio 0.58; P=0.00003), an absolute reduction of 2.4%. This statistically significant benefit in DFS in favour of letrozole was observed regardless of nodal status or prior chemotherapy. For the secondary endpoint overall survival (OS) a total 113 deaths were reported (51 letrozole, 62 placebo). Overall, there was no significant difference between treatments in OS (hazard ratio 0.82; P=0.29). Table 4 summarises the results:Table 4 Disease-free and overall survival (Modified ITT population) | | LetrozoleN=2582 | PlaceboN=2586 | Hazard Ratio(95 % CI) | P-Value | | Disease-free survival
(primary)
- events (protocol definition, total)
| 92
(3.6%)
| 155
(6.0%)
| 0.58 (0.45, 0.76)
1
| 0.00003
| | Distant disease-free survival | 57 | 93 | 0.61 (0.44, 0.84)
2
| 0.003
| | Overall survival
(secondary)
- number of deaths (total)
| 51 | 62 | 0.82 (0.56, 1.19)
1
| 0.291
| | Contralateral breast cancer (secondary)
- including DCIS/LCIS
- invasive
| 1915 | 3025 | 0.63 (0.36, 1.13)
3
0.60 (0.31, 1.14)
3
| 0.120
0.117
| | CI = confidence interval, DCIS = ductal carcinoma in situ, LCIS = lobular carcinoma in situ
1 Stratified by receptor status, nodal status and prior adjuvant chemotherapy
2 Non-stratified analysis
3 Odds ratio, non-stratified analysis
| Updated analyses were conducted at a median follow-up of 49 months. In the letrozole arm at least 30% of the patients had completed 5 years and 59% had completed at least 4 years of follow-up. After the unblinding of the study, 56% of the patients in the placebo arm opted to switch to letrozole. In this analysis of DFS, letrozole significantly reduced the risk of breast cancer recurrence compared with placebo (HR 0.68; 95% CI 0.55, 0.83; P=0.0001). letrozole also significantly reduced the odds of a new invasive contralateral cancer by 41% compared with placebo (OR 0.59; 95% CI 0.36, 0.96; P=0.03). There was no significant difference in distant disease-free survival or overall survival. The clinical interpretation of these updated analyses should take into account that over half of the patients in the placebo arm switched to letrozole. Therefore, analyses were conducted to evaluate the effect of the switch. In one exploratory analysis comparing letrozole with placebo until switch, letrozole reduced the risk of breast cancer recurrence (HR 0.55; 95% CI 0.45,0.68; p<0.001). After unblinding, patients who switched to letrozole from placebo had been off adjuvant tamoxifen for a median 31 months (range 14 to 79 months). Other analyses were performed within the placebo arm taking account of the switch to letrozole. Acknowledging the varying times of the switch after the completion of prior tamoxifen therapy and the known limitations of non-randomised comparison, results suggested a consistent reduction in the risk of breast cancer recurrence in those patients who switched to letrozole (HR 0.31; 95% CI 0.20, 0.49, p<0.001). The efficacy of letrozole was not assessed in women who discontinued tamoxifen therapy more than 3 months earlier. There was no difference in safety and efficacy between patients aged < 65 versus 65 years.Updated results (median follow-up was 40 months) from the bone mineral density (BMD) sub-study (n=226) demonstrated that, at 2 years, compared to baseline, patients receiving letrozole had a median decrease of 3.8% in hip BMD compared to 2.0% in the placebo group (P=.0.018). There was no significant difference in changes in lumbar spine BMD at any time. Concomitant calcium and vitamin D supplementation was mandatory in the BMD substudy. Updated results (median follow-up was approximately 50 months) from the lipid sub-study (n=347) showed no significant difference between the letrozole and placebo groups at any time. In the core study the incidence of cardiovascular ischemic events for letrozole versus placebo until switch was 11.1 % vs. 8.6 %.First-line treatment One large well-controlled double-blind trial was conducted comparing letrozole 2.5 mg to tamoxifen 20 mg daily as first-line therapy in postmenopausal women with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer. In this trial of 907 women, letrozole was superior to tamoxifen in time to progression (primary endpoint) and in overall objective response, time to treatment failure and clinical benefit (CR+PR+NC 24 weeks). Letrozole treatment in the first line therapy of advanced breast cancer patients is associated with an early survival advantage over tamoxifen. A significantly greater number of patients were alive on letrozole versus tamoxifen throughout the first 24 months of the study. As the study design allowed patients to cross-over upon progression to the other therapy the long-term survival could not be evaluated.Pre-operative treatment:A double blind trial was conducted in 337 postmenopausal breast cancer patients randomly allocated either letrozole 2.5mg for 4 months or tamoxifen for 4 months. At baseline all patients had tumours stage T2-T4c, N0-2, M0, ER and/or PgR positive and none of the patients would have qualified for breast-conserving surgery. There were 55% objective responses in the letrozole treated patients versus 36% for the tamoxifen treated patients (p<0.001) based on clinical assessment. This finding was consistently confirmed by ultrasound (p=0.042) and mammography (p<0.001) giving the most conservative assessment of response. This response was reflected in a statistically significantly higher number of patients in the letrozole group who became suitable for and underwent breast-conserving therapy (45% of patients in the letrozole group versus 35% of patients in the tamoxifen group, p=0.022). During the 4 month pre-operative treatment period, 12% of patients treated with L letrozole and 17% of patients treated with tamoxifen had disease progression on clinical assessment. | |