Aromatase Inhibitor

I started taking Femara 2 months ago, plus Pamidronate. I'm wondering how long will it take for it to have an effect on the breast cancer. I have small nodules, which my oncologist says are inoperable. These are a recurrence, after having been on Taxotere for 10 rounds and Avastin for 18.

[Fernando Roque, MD]

Hi.  In the clinical trial by Mouridsen et al (2003) which studied the effectiveness of  letrozole (Femara) in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer, the median "time to response" (defined as the interval between randomization and the earliest documentation of response) is 14 weeks or three and a half months.   Based on this study, you should see shrinking of those nodules after three and a half months of treatment with Femara, on average.