The efficacy and side effects of exemestane in the treatment of postmenopausal women with bone metastasis of breast cancer

Objective To observe the efficacy and side effects of exemestane in postmenopausal breast cancer patients with bone metastasis.Methods One hundred and ten postmenopausal breast cancer patients with bone metastasis were treated with exemestane 25 mg.Results In the evaluable data from 110 patients,the complete remission(CR)was encountered in 7 cases,partial remission(PR)in 28 cases,with a total response rate of 31.8％ ;Thirty nine patients had stabled diseases for more than 24 weeks.It produced a clinical benefit (CR + PR + SD)over 24 weeks in 74 cases(67.3％).Diseases progressed in 12 of the cases(10.9％).The patients with positive ER and PR status had a higher chance to be benefited from the treatment than those with negative receptor status.The clinical efficacy was not correlated with treatment history,pathological subtypes and bone,liver,lung and lymph node metastasis(x2 =0.045,0.078,0.200,P ＞ 0.05).No severe adverse effects were observed.Conclusion Exemestane is effective to treat bone metastasis of breast cancer with minor adverse reactions and good tolerability. Key words: Breast cancer; Bone metastases; Exemestane; Endocrine therapy