Dr. Tjan-Heijnen on Results of DATA Study in Breast Cancer

Vivianne Tjan-Heijnen, MD, PhD, professor, Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Maastricht University Medical Center, discusses the results of the phase III DATA study.

Conducted in The Netherlands, this multicenter study compared 3 years versus 6 years of anastrozole after 2 to 3 years of tamoxifen in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive early-stage breast cancer.

Patients with large tumors who were both estrogen-receptor positive and progesterone receptor-positive received a significant benefit from extending treatment.

Tjan-Heijnen believes that questions around relapse with endocrine treatment remain, but adds that new targeted therapies look promising.