Comparison of anastrozole versus tamoxifen as preoperative therapy in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor‐positive breast cancer

Anastrozole is an effective and well-tolerated preoperative therapy, producing clinically beneficial tumor downstaging and reductions in tumor volume. These effects enable more minimal surgical interventions in patients scheduled for mastectomy, and mastectomy in patients with previously inoperable tumors. Anastrozole appears to be at least as effective as tamoxifen in this setting, and more effective than tamoxifen in certain clinically relevant subgroups. Cancer 2006. (c) 2006 American Cancer Society.