According to a meta-analysis study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, aromatase inhibitors --such as vorozole, letrozole, examestane, and anastrazole-- improve the survival of advanced breast cancer patients and may therefore be used as an initial therapy for these patients. The use of third-generation aromatase inhibitors and inactivators appear to be significantly better than standard hormone therapies like tamoxifen.

An accompanying JNCI editorial says,

"We believe that this study was well executed and that the results are acceptable. The statistical power of this meta-analysis is high because of the large amount of compiled data, and the results support what is already a strong bias in the clinical community."

[Photo: Invasive Lobular carcinoma, Credit: Breastcancer.org]