Novartis' Femara Gets Wider Approval

Novartis AG announced on Friday that the FDA approved Femara (letrozole) as an extended adjuvant treatment for postmenopausal women with early breast cancer who have received adjuvant tamoxifen for five years. Adjuvant or "helper" therapy refers to any therapy given after a primary therapy such as surgery or radiotherapy. The aim of adjuvant therapy in this case is to reduce recurrence of cancer. The term "extended" is used to describe the period following adjuvant therapy with tamoxifen.