Anastrozole (Arimidex) - Breast Cancer Care in FADIC Blog

Anastrozole (Arimidex) – Breast Cancer Common Drug

Brand Names: Arimidex
Therapeutic Category: Antineoplastic Agent, Aromatase Inhibitor
Dosage Forms: Tablet, Oral
Use: Labeled Indications: Breast cancer: First-line treatment of locally-advanced or metastatic breast cancer

Off Label: Endometrial or uterine cancers, Ovarian cancer, Risk reduction for breast cancer in postmenopausal women
Dosing : Adult : Breast cancer: Postmenopausal females: Oral: 1 mg once daily; continue until tumor progression

Dose Adjustments
Renal Impairment: no dosage adjustments
Hepatic Impairment: no dosage adjustments
Adverse Drug Interaction:
Vasodilatation, ischemic heart disease (in patients with pre-existing ischemic heart disease), hypertension, Gastrointestinal distress, nausea

Pharmacodynamics/Kinetics:
Onset of estradiol reduction: 70% reduction after 24 hours; 80% after 2 weeks of therapy
Duration of estradiol reduction: 6 days
Metabolism: Extensively hepatic (85%)
Half-life elimination: 50 hours
Time to peak, plasma: 2 hours without food; 5 hours with food

Important Notes:
Patient may experience hot flashes, loss of strength and energy, weight gain, anxiety, sweating a lot, flu-like symptoms, dry mouth, pelvic pain, constipation, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, joint pain, joint edema, muscle pain, insomnia, cough, pharyngitis, or back pain. Have patient report immediately to prescriber signs of liver problems, signs of a urinary tract infection , shortness of breath, swelling of arms or legs, passing out, vision changes, breast pain, abnormal vaginal bleeding, or vaginitis
Pregnancy & Lactation: Anastrozole cause fetal harm if exposure occurs during pregnancy / not known if present in breast milk
Medication Safety issue:
- Anastrozole confused with anagrelide, letrozole
- Arimidex confused with Aromasin