What You Need to Know About Aromatase Inhibitors

Ovarian and breast cancer in post menopausal women are often treated with drugs, and some of these are Aromatase Inhibitors. Estrogen is required by cancers of the ovaries and breast to grow and these drugs are used to lower the levels of estrogen and help to obstruct a tumor from increasing in size. Certain types of tissue in the body and the ovaries produce estrogen by using a factor known as aromatase. Aromatase Inhibitors obstruct the productions of estrogen from the tissue but not from the ovaries, this is why the use of these Inhibitors is mainly used in women of menopausal and post menopausal age as the ovaries are not affected. There are now three of these particular hormonal products approved for use in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration with the chemical names of anastrozole, exemestane and letrozole. The dosage prescribed for an ongoing treatment is usually one pill per day.

There are generally less side effects experience when using these types of hormonal medications than for other treatments which are used for these types of cancers. It has been noted that some of the more serious side effects of this treatment may be strokes, blood clots or endometrial cancers. These types of Aromatase Inhibitors are generally related to more problems with bone loss and more complication with the heart when taken during the first number of years of treatment. Having bone density scans may be an option as this will investigate and monitor the level of density of the bone structure before and during the recommended treatment period. One of the more noteable side effects of this type of treatment is joint pain and stiffness.

A study in Britian in 2008 suggested that women who experienced the troubling joint pain associated with this type of hormonal therapy, were said to possibly have a less likely occurrence of the cancer returning when this side effect was endured. Where this side effect was not manageable and caused too much pain then there was the option of changing to another type of Aromatase Inhibitor as two of the treatments have a similar chemical make-up, while the third had a different type of structure.