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NCT01064635 · CITED IN SOURCE DOCUMENTS

Letrozole in Treating Breast Cancer in Postmenopausal Women With Stage I, II, or III Breast Cancer Previously Treated With Tamoxifen (GIM4)

An NCI or FDA source cites this study. A citation does not establish that it applies to an individual diagnosis.

Phase
PHASE3
Status at capture
UNKNOWN
Registry last update
2024-05-08

RATIONALE: Estrogen can cause the growth of breast cancer cells. Letrozole may fight breast cancer by lowering the amount of estrogen the body makes. It is not yet known which regimen of letrozole is most effective in treating breast cancer in postmenopausal women who have received tamoxifen. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is comparing different regimens of letrozole to see how well they work in treating postmenopausal women with stage I, stage II, or stage III breast cancer previously treated with tamoxifen.

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What did the study report?

Outcomes, safety and baseline populations are separate source sections. Quality-of-life measures appear under their original outcome titles.

No posted result sections were captured. Registered plans do not establish that a treatment works.

Who could take part
eligibility Criteria
INCLUSION CRITERIA * Signed informed consent prior to beginning protocol specific procedures. * Histologically proven breast cancer at the first diagnosis with tumor stage I-II-III. Patients with histologically documented (microscopic) infiltration of the skin (pT4) will also be eligible. * Axillary Nodal status allowed: Nx, pNo, pN1, pN2, pN3. * Postmenopausal status defined by one of the following: * Age \> 55 years with cessation of menses * Age \< 55 years but not spontaneous menses for at least 1 year * Age \< 55 years and spontaneous menses within the past 1 year, but currently amenorrheic (e.g. spontaneous, or secondary to hysterectomy), AND with postmenopausal gonadotrophin levels (luteinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone levels \>40 IU/L) or postmenopausal estradiol levels (\<5 ng/dL) or according to the definition of "postmenopausal range" for the laboratory involved. * Bilateral oophorectomy * Adjuvant TAM received for at least 2 years and not more than 3 years and 3 months. Patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy, are required to have begun receiving TAM within 3 months after the completion of chemotherapy. * Definitive surgical treatment must be either mastectomy or breast conserving surgery, with axillary lymph node dissection or sentinel node biopsy for operable breast cancer. * ECOG/WHO performance Status 0-1. Patients must be accessible for treatment and follow-up. * Concomitant treatment with biphosphonates are allowed and should be recorded during the trial. EXCLUSION CRITERIA * Male patients. * Any locally advanced (T4) or inflammatory breast cancer. However, patients with microscopic infiltration of the skin (pT4) will be eligible. * Patients with distant metastases. Any suspicious manifestation requires appropriate investigation to exclude metastases. * Histology other than adenocarcinoma. * Patients with previous or concomitant (not breast cancer) malignancy within the past 5 years EXCEPT adequately treated basal or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin or in situ carcinoma of the cervix. Patients who have had a previous other malignancy must have been disease free for 5 years. * Patients with other non-malignant systemic diseases (cardiovascular, renal, hepatic, lung embolism, etc.) which would prevent prolonged follow-up. * Use of hormone Replacement Therapy within four weeks before randomization. * Concurrent treatment with other experimental drugs. Participation in another clinical trial with any investigational regimen within 30 days prior to study entry. * Concurrent treatment with any other anti-cancer therapy.
healthy Volunteers
false
minimum Age
18 Years
sex
FEMALE
std Ages
  1. ADULT
  2. OLDER_ADULT
Treatment arms and interventions
arm Groups
  1. description
    Patients pre-treated with TAM for 2-3 years will receive letrozole 2,5 mg/die for 3-2 years. Total duration of early adjuvant endocrine therapy: 5 years
    intervention Names
    1. Drug: Letrozole
    label
    Letrozole for 3-2 years
    type
    ACTIVE_COMPARATOR
  2. description
    Patients pre-treated with TAM for 2-3 years will receive letrozole 2,5 mg/die for additional 5 years. Total duration of early adjuvant endocrine therapy: 7 years for patients pretreated with 2 years of TAM and 8 years for patients pre-treated with 3 years of TAM
    intervention Names
    1. Drug: Letrozole
    label
    Letrozole for 5 year
    type
    EXPERIMENTAL
interventions
  1. arm Group Labels
    1. Letrozole for 3-2 years
    description
    letrozole for 2-3 years after Tam
    name
    Letrozole
    type
    DRUG
  2. arm Group Labels
    1. Letrozole for 5 year
    description
    Letrozole for 5 years after Tam
    name
    Letrozole
    type
    DRUG
Study design
allocation
RANDOMIZED
intervention Model
PARALLEL
masking Info
masking
NONE
primary Purpose
TREATMENT
Enrollment
count
2056
type
ACTUAL
Registered outcome plans (not posted results)
primary Outcomes
  1. measure
    Disease-free survival
    time Frame
    6 years after the last patient enters the study
secondary Outcomes
  1. measure
    Overall survival
    time Frame
    6 years after the last patient enters the study
  2. measure
    Safety
    time Frame
    6 years after the last patient enters the study
Full study description
brief Summary
RATIONALE: Estrogen can cause the growth of breast cancer cells. Letrozole may fight breast cancer by lowering the amount of estrogen the body makes. It is not yet known which regimen of letrozole is most effective in treating breast cancer in postmenopausal women who have received tamoxifen. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is comparing different regimens of letrozole to see how well they work in treating postmenopausal women with stage I, stage II, or stage III breast cancer previously treated with tamoxifen.
detailed Description
OBJECTIVES: Primary * To compare the disease-free survival of previously treated, post-menopausal women with early-stage breast cancer treated with standard- (2-3 years of tamoxifen followed by 2-3 years of letrozole) versus long-treatment (2-3 years of tamoxifen followed by 5 years of letrozole) adjuvant letrozole. Secondary * To compare the overall survival of these patients. * To compare the safety of these patients. OUTLINE: Patients are randomized to 1 or 2 treatment arms. * Arm I (standard treatment): Patients previously treated with tamoxifen for 2 years receive letrozole for an additional 3 years; patients previously treated with tamoxifen for 3 years receive letrozole for an additional 2 years; and patients previously treated with tamoxifen for 2-3 years receive letrozole , so the total duration of the endocrine treatment (i.e., tamoxifen followed by letrozole) is 5 years. * Arm II (long treatment): Patients receive letrozole for an additional 5 years regardless of the duration of the previous tamoxifen treatment.
Source references
references
  1. citation
    Del Mastro L, Mansutti M, Bisagni G, Ponzone R, Durando A, Amaducci L, Campadelli E, Cognetti F, Frassoldati A, Michelotti A, Mura S, Urracci Y, Sanna G, Gori S, De Placido S, Garrone O, Fabi A, Barone C, Tamberi S, Bighin C, Puglisi F, Moretti G, Arpino G, Ballestrero A, Poggio F, Lambertini M, Montemurro F, Bruzzi P; Gruppo Italiano Mammella investigators. Extended therapy with letrozole as adjuvant treatment of postmenopausal patients with early-stage breast cancer: a multicentre, open-label, randomised, phase 3 trial. Lancet Oncol. 2021 Oct;22(10):1458-1467. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(21)00352-1. Epub 2021 Sep 17.
    pmid
    34543613
    type
    DERIVED
see Also Links
  1. label
    Clinical trial summary from the National Cancer Institute's PDQ® database
Source notices and limitations
    Discovery and provenance
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      occurrences
      1. context exact
        steoporosis/osteopenia were more frequent on the extended-therapy arm.</li></ul></div></li><li>A phase III, open-label, Italian trial (<a href="/clinicaltrials/NCT01064635">NCT01064635</a>) included 2,056 hormone receptor&#8211;positive postmenopausal women who had received 2 to 3 years of tamoxifen treatment. Patients were rando
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      2. context exact
        steopenia were more frequent on the extended-therapy arm.</li></ul></div></li><li>A phase III, open-label, Italian trial (<a href="/clinicaltrials/NCT01064635">NCT01064635</a>) included 2,056 hormone receptor&#8211;positive postmenopausal women who had received 2 to 3 years of tamoxifen treatment. Patients were randomly assigned
        end
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      source file
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      source retrieved at
      2026-09-09T23:21:35.419733+00:00
      source string basis
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      source string sha256
      536430925e3b0008edd3fb69a869d5645bd6b6dc5c84c21ddf1b3e24f089874c
      source title
      Breast Cancer Treatment (PDQ®)–Health Professional Version
      source update dates
      1. context
        Updated: April 25, 2025
        datetime
        2025-04-25T12:00:00Z
        display
        April 25, 2025

    Preserved source evidence · Not medical advice