The role of aromatase inhibitors in the treatment of breast neoplasms. An evaluation of clinical efficacy and the tolerability profile

Constant acquisitions regarding endocrine pathogenesis and the biology of breast neoplasms have led to the evolution of hormone manipulation as a therapeutic option in patients suffering from this disease. There has been a shift from ablative surgical procedures to the use of drugs offering greater clinical efficacy and an improved tolerability profile. Since the late 1970s tamoxifen has been regarded as the gold standard for hormone treatment in hormone-responsive breast neoplasm, but promising new endocrine agents are now being compared in random trials. Of these, the latest generation of aromatase inhibitors appears to gather the widest consensus on the basis of the results published to date. This article aims to review this new category of drugs, illustrating their rationale of use, the results obtained in the treatment of breast neoplasm and the main studies in which they are currently being investigated.