letrozole

letrozole, anticancer drug used to inhibit the synthesis of estrogen in postmenopausal women who have breast cancers that are dependent on the growth-promoting actions of the hormone. Letrozole is marketed as Femara and is manufactured by Swiss drug company Novartis AG.

Letrozole is taken orally and works by inhibiting the conversion of testosterone to estrogen. The drug specifically targets an enzyme called aromatase, which catalyzes the formation of estrogens from androgens, such as testosterone. For this reason, letrozole belongs to a larger group of drugs known as aromatase inhibitors, many of which are potent agents used primarily for the treatment of cancers that depend on estrogens to stimulate their growth. Thus, letrozole is most effective in the treatment of hormone-dependent breast cancers—those that contain cells expressing estrogen receptors, which are also known as hormone receptor-positive breast cancers.

In the 1980s scientists at the Swiss company Ciba-Geigy AG (now Novartis AG) discovered letrozole while screening compounds for their ability to inhibit aromatase. Letrozole was far more potent than any other aromatase inhibitor discovered. As a result, its development was accelerated, leading to its approval in 1996 for the treatment of advanced breast cancer in France and other European countries. The following year letrozole was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In addition to the drug’s general approval for the treatment of advanced breast cancer, in later years it was approved for multiple and specific applications. For example, in 2001 letrozole was approved in the United Kingdom specifically for the first-line treatment of advanced breast cancer, and in 2004 it was approved in the United States for what is known as extended adjuvant therapy. This type of therapy is indicated for postmenopausal women with breast cancer who have completed five years of therapy with tamoxifen, thereby making them eligible to receive at least another two years of therapy with letrozole to reduce the likelihood of reemergence of the cancer. Few anticancer drugs have efficacy and safety profiles sufficient to permit such extended use. The FDA also approved the drug for use in adjuvant therapy (following surgery) in women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancers, and for use in women with breast cancer that has metastasized (spread).

Letrozole is not used in women who are premenopausal. In these women, the drug induces ovulation; it also has been reported to cause congenital disorders in infants born to women who used the agent in a prescribed, though unapproved (off-label) manner, as a form of infertility treatment. The side effects of letrozole generally range from mild to moderate and include hot flashes, nausea, fatigue, headache, weight gain, and joint or muscle pain. In some women the drug causes an increase in cholesterol levels or an increased risk of osteoporosis. Rare adverse effects include heart attack, stroke, and the development of other malignancies, such as endometrial cancer.