[INTRODUCTION - In patients with hormone- dependent breast cancer, five-year postoperative tamoxifen therapy is a standard treatment approach. Continuing this therapy for more than five years can increase the risk of recurrence of the disease. It has been shown that treatment with the third-generation aromatase inhibitor letrozol after discontinuation of tamoxifen therapy significantly improves disease-free survival. It is important to assess whether the substantial decrease of estrogen level shows a correlation with the occurrence of unwanted events/side effects or with changes in the quality of life. PATIENTS AND METHOD - Between 2005 and 2009, 921 women (mean age 63 years, age 40-94 years) with early-stage breast carcinoma were treated with expanded adjuvant letrozol therapy following tamoxifen treatment. Of these patients, 541 received previous tamoxifen therapy for 4-6 years. We studied relapses and quality of life - measured by the SF-36 survey - during letrozol therapy in the latter patient group and the occurrence of unwanted events and side effects in all 921 patients. The patients were examined eight times and completed the survey four times. RESULTS - At the check-ups, relapses were recorded in case of 20 patients. Quality of life scores significantly increased in two main categories - physical and mental health -, and within these in three subcategories, whereas decreasing scores were not recorded in any categories. In 921 patient taking letrozol, 73 experienced unwanted events/side effects, of which nine were severe and three patient died. The two most common side effects were joint and bone pain (18 patients) and heat rash (12 patients). CONCLUSION - Extended adjuvant therapy with letrozol efficiently decreased the number of relapses and the number of patients continuing therapy. On the basis of the SF-36 survey the patients’ quality of life generaly improved. Letrozol therapy was well tolerated by most patients, which can have a favourable effect on the outcome of the therapy.]
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