Aromasin

Aromasin - For Better Treatment of Breast Cancer

Drug Profile:

Aromasin or Exemestane is a steroid suicidal aromatase inhibitor. Being an aromatase inhibitor means that the drug lowers estrogen production of your body by blocking the aromatase enzyme, which is responsible for estrogen synthesis. The drug is considered as one of the strongest compounds that are used to fight breast cancer. Aromasin is an oral compound available in the form of round, biconvex and off-white to slightly gray tablets.

This medicine was basically developed for treating breast cancer in post-menopausal women, who require aggressive therapy and for the first line defenses, such as SERMS (Tamoxifen) fail to show any result.

Aromasin Uses:

Clinically, Aromasin is used in combination with other medications to treat certain forms of breast cancer, such as hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer, in post-menopausal women. The drug also helps in preventing the reoccurence of cancer. It is medically proved that a female’s main and natural hormone, estrogen is linked with the faster growth of certain breast cancers. So, this aromatase inhibitor decreases the level of estrogen in the body and aids in reversing or slowing down the growth of these breast cancers.

On an average, the drug has 85% rate of estrogen suppression. This high rate makes it undoubtedly a very effective agent for those bodybuilders and athletes, who want to avoid estrogen related ill-effects caused by aromatizing steroids. Like other drugs or compounds of this class, Exemestane increases testosterone levels to a reasonable rise, which in other words mean that the medicine can also have androgenic side effects.

In addition of effecting testosterone and estrogen, Aromasin increases IGF (insulin-like growth factor) levels and has less harsh effects on blood lipids in comparison to other drugs used in bodybuilding or athletics. The property of being less harsh of this aromatase inhibitor on blood lipid profiles makes it a very good choice to be used in longer cycles. You can also use this medicine in your post-cycle-therapy for achieving normal hormonal conditions.

Aromasin and Side Effects:

Aromasin is generally a well tolerated drug and usually has only mild to moderate adverse effects. Some of its common side effects that you can experience from its uses are hot flushes, fast breathing, weight gain, headache, unusual sweating, nausea, diarrhea, tiredness, dizziness, trouble sleeping, vomiting, and painful and muscles joints. In case, if any of these effects worsen then see your doctor or a pharmacist immediately.

Though, Exemestane does not have serious side effects, but in some case they might also occur. Chest pain, nausea with unusual sweating, sudden fainting, itching, swelling and paralysis on one side of the body are some of the serious problems that might occur.

Warnings & Precautions:

Before you start taking any drug, it is always useful to have information about warnings and precautions related to that specific drug. The same rule applies to this medicine also. Though Aromasin side-effects are not too severe for the user, if you consume the drug in a wrong way it may prove fatal. The drug should not be consumed in case you have allergic reactions to a particular drug or food. Pregnant and premenopausal women should generally avoid taking Aromasin tablets. Besides these, one most important precaution that every user of this aromatase inhibitor should keep in mind is that never co-administer Aromasin with other estrogen-containing agents as it can hamper its pharmacologic action.

Dosage:

The recommended Aromasin dosage for early and advanced breast cancer is 25 mg tablet one time in a day after a meal. In case of postmenopausal women, diagnosed with early breast cancer and have been treated with tamoxifen for 2–3 years, Aromasin treatment should be continued in the absence of recurrence or contralateral breast cancer until completion of five years of adjuvant endocrine therapy.

In case of patients with advanced breast cancer, you can continue the treatment with this specific drug until tumor progression is evident. If you are taking the drug with a strong CYP 3A4 inducer, such as phenytoin or rifampicin then your recommended dose is 50 mg once daily after a meal.