CENTRO ESCOLAR UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF NURSING
MENDIOLA, MANILA

PHARMACOLOGY 2
ANTINEOPLASTIC DRUG
JOURNALS

Submitted by:
Pasaoa, Almarie Graceilla C.
BSN3A0

Submitted to:
Mr. Sonny Pura

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy and leading cause of cancer-related deaths
in women. In recent years, breast cancer screening has resulted in a larger number of breast
cancer patients diagnosed at lower ages and earlier stages.
Menopause is the permanent termination of menstruation due to loss of ovarian function.
It is diagnosed with the absence of menses after 12 months. The tumor growth of
postmenopausal women is caused by the hormone estrogen. These patients undergo
chemotherapy that is based on estrogen receptor status. The estrogen receptor-positive tumors
respond well to anti-hormonal therapies than the estrogen receptor-negative tumors. Tamoxifen
has been considered the standard adjuvant endocrine therapy for those with positive hormone
receptor breast cancer for postmenopausal women. However, the estrogen receptor-positive
tumors do not respond well to tamoxifen and later develop tamoxifen-resistant tumors. To treat
tamoxifen-resistant tumors, third-generation aromatase inhibitors were developed. These
inhibitors block the synthesis of estrogens from androgens. (Lafky et. al. 2005)
Studies show that a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor called letrozole is more effective in
inhibition of tumor proliferation than tamoxifen. Letrozole blocks the conversion of androgens to
estrogen in the peripheral tissues of postmenopausal women with metastatic breast cancer. The
study was composed of 89 patients who were postmenopausal. They underwent letrozole therapy
for 1 and 3 months. They received 2.5 mg of letrozole daily. The results of efficacy of letrozole
was a decrease in circurlating serum sEGFR concentrations in the majority if postmenopausal
women with metastatic breast cancer. (Ellis et. al. 2003)
Another effective drug for metastatic breast cancer is lapatinib. It is a dual EFGR and
HER2 tyrosine kinase inhibitor. The research study was composed of 22 patients that were
postmenopausal. They received lapatinib 1500 mg daily in monthly cycles. After the trial, the
result was that lapatinib was effective in decreasing HER2-positive circulating tumor cells in
patients with metastatic breast cancer. (Agelaki et. al. 2015)
These newly developed drugs are really helpful to the field of pharmacology and
medicine because of increasing number of women having breast cancer especially to
postmenopausal women. These studies showed that breast cancer that is hormone related is not
only treated by chemotherapy, but also with the help aromatase inhibitors which help ovarian
function of women. Technology also has a big part in these studies to examine and check the
hormone levels and other tests to verify the efficacy of these drugs.
In todays generation, we think that cancer is linked to chemotherapy because it is the
most common type of treatment for cancer. However, there are now a lot of options of treatments
and therapies to choose from. This gives cancer patients bigger hopes that they will be cancer
free.

As a nurse, learning never stops. In a few years I will become one someday. I expect that
more and more medications and technologies will be discovered and developed as years pass by.
Also as a woman, I am at risk of having breast cancer and I look forward to have better prognosis
to this disease in the future. Cancer is not a joke. It should be treated seriously and nurses should
give cancer patients the utmost care.

Bibliography
Agelaki, S., Kalykaki, A., Markomanolaki, H., Papadaki, M., Kallergi, G., Hatzidaki, D., . . .
Georgoulias, V. (2015, June 17). Efficacy of Lapatinib in Therapy-Resistant HER2Positive Circulating Tumor Cells in Metastatic Breast Cancer. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
Ellis, M., Coop, A., Singh, B., Tao, Y., & Llombart-Cussac, A. (n.d.). Letrozole Inhibits Tumor
Proliferation More Effectively than Tamoxifen Independent of HER1/2 Expression
Status1. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
Lafky, J., Baron, A., Cora, E., Hillman, D., Suman, V., Perez, E., . . . Maihle, N. (2005, April 15).
Serum Soluble Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Concentrations Decrease in
Postmenopausal Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients Treated with Letrozole. Retrieved
August 2, 2015.