Anastrozole
Benjamin Clanner-Engelshofen is a freelance writer in the medical department. He studied biochemistry and pharmacy in Munich and Cambridge / Boston (USA) and noticed early on that he particularly enjoyed the interface between medicine and science. That is why he went on to study human medicine.
More about the experts All content is checked by medical journalists.The active ingredient anastrozole is a non-steroidal aromatase inhibitor and is used to treat breast cancer. It prevents the body from producing female sex hormones. This makes it suitable against hormone-sensitive forms of breast cancer, i.e. malignant tumors whose growth is influenced by sex hormones. Here you can read everything you need to know about the effects and use of anastrozole, side effects and interactions.
This is how anastrozole works
During the development of the female sexual organs during puberty, the body releases estrogens (female sex hormones) in a targeted manner in order to stimulate the relevant tissues to grow. After the end of puberty, this process is complete and the estrogen that continues to be produced only controls the female cycle, which enables pregnancies.
Sometimes an error occurs in this complex control process. Then it can happen that breast tissue, for example, still reacts to female hormones and grows in dependence on them. This uncontrolled, hormone-dependent growth then leads to overgrowth - it leads to breast cancer.
Such tumors can be treated by inhibiting the production of estrogen. The body needs the enzyme aromatase to produce the female sex hormone from precursors such as testosterone. The enzyme can be blocked with certain active ingredients - so-called aromatase inhibitors such as anastrozole. As a result, a hormone-dependent breast cancer tumor stagnates in its growth.
Anastrozole is only used in women after the menopause, in whom the estrogen production itself is already massively reduced.
Anastrozole uptake, breakdown and excretion
After ingestion, the active ingredient reaches its highest levels in the body within two hours. Most of it is broken down in the liver and excreted in the urine. Only a small part leaves the body unchanged. The active ingredient remains in the body for a relatively long time: about two days after ingestion, only about half of it is excreted.
When is anastrozole used?
The aromatase inhibitor anastrozole is used in the following cases:
- to treat hormone-sensitive, advanced breast cancer in postmenopausal women
Therapy with anastrozole takes place over a longer period, sometimes over several years.
This is how anastrozole is used
Anastrozole is used in the form of tablets (each with one milligram of active ingredient). One tablet is taken once a day, with or without food at about the same time with a glass of water.
What are the side effects of anastrozole?
The most common side effects during treatment with anastrozole are headache, hot flashes, nausea, rash, joint pain, inflammation of the joints, bone loss and weakness. “Very common” means that these undesirable effects occur in more than one in ten patients.
Common anastrozole side effects (in one to ten percent of patients) include high cholesterol levels, loss of appetite, drowsiness, taste disorders, abnormal sensations, diarrhea, vomiting, increased liver enzyme levels, hair loss, allergic reactions, vaginal dryness, vaginal bleeding, muscle and bone pain.
What should be considered when taking anastrozole?
Studies have shown little or no interactions between anastrozole and other drugs that are commonly used by breast cancer patients. Nevertheless, any use of other medication should be clarified with the doctor or pharmacist. This also applies to herbal preparations and dietary supplements.
Concomitant use or use of tamoxifen or estrogens will weaken the effects of anastrozole.
In patients with osteoporosis or an increased risk of osteoporosis, bone density should be measured before starting and regularly during treatment with anastrozole. If necessary, something can be done in good time to counteract a reduction in bone density.
Patients with severe liver or kidney dysfunction should only be treated with anastrozole in exceptional cases.
Men, pregnant women, breastfeeding women, children, adolescents and women before menopause must not be treated with anastrozole. However, this may change in the future: Studies are currently being conducted to determine whether elevated estrogen levels in boys and men can be treated with anastrozole.
How to get anastrozole medication
The breast cancer drug anastrozole requires a prescription. So you can only get it after a doctor's prescription in the pharmacy.
Since when is anastrozole known?
The aromatase inhibitor anastrozole was developed by the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and was first approved in Germany in 1996. The patent protection expired in 2010. Since the drug is listed on the list of essential drugs of the World Health Organization and is accordingly often prescribed, there have been numerous, cheaper generics with the active ingredient anastrozole since 2010.
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