Several studies were presented in Atlanta on Saturday at a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Summaries of some of the breast cancer-related research appears below.

• Tykerb: Charles Geyer of Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh and colleagues tested GlaxoSmithKline's experimental drug Tykerb in combination with Xeloda, a chemotherapy drug, the New York Times reports. According to the Times, Tykerb targets the cells that drive certain types of breast cancer and does not affect healthy cells (Pollack, New York Times, 6/4). The researchers tested the Tykerb-Xeloda combination therapy in 160 women living with breast cancer and compared them with 161 women living with breast cancer who were treated with Xeloda alone. The study finds that tumors in women receiving combination therapy did not grow for 8.5 months, while tumors in women who took only Xeloda began to grow in 4.5 months (Rick, Long Island Newsday, 6/4). According to the Times, the trial was stopped early because it "became unethical" to give some women only Xeloda. According to some experts, Tykerb has not yet been shown to increase the life expectancy of women and is not effective in all women (New York Times, 6/4).
  


• Aromasin: Raoul Coombes of Imperial College London and colleagues examined 2,352 postmenopausal women with early-stage breast cancer who switched to Pfizer's drug Aromasin -- which is an aromatase inhibitor that works by blocking the production of estrogen -- after being treated with the standard tamoxifen therapy for two to three years, and compared them with 2,372 women who were treated with tamoxifen alone for about five years, BBC News reports. The study finds that postmenopausal women with hormone-sensitive breast cancer taking Aromasin after two to three years on standard therapy decreased the risk of death by 17%. The researchers also found that women who switched to Aromasin reduced by 15% their risk of death compared with those taking only tamoxifen (BBC News, 6/5).
  


• Aromasin, Bone Density: Per Lonning of Haukland University Hospital in Bergen, Norway, examined the association between bone density and the use of Aromasin, Newsday reports. Lonning found that women taking Aromasin were more likely to experience bone loss if they had lower levels of vitamin D than other women on the therapy. Lonning said that his research supports "the use of vitamin D as well as calcium supplementation for postmenopausal women" taking Aromasin (Long Island Newsday, 6/4).