{"entity":{"id":"exemestane","kind":"drug","name":"Exemestane","aka":[],"tldr":"Exemestane is a steroidal aromatase inhibitor, the partner of everolimus and the agent tested with ovarian suppression in young women.","summary":"Exemestane is a steroidal aromatase inactivator: it binds aromatase irreversibly as a 'suicide' substrate, permanently disabling the enzyme that makes oestrogen from androgens in postmenopausal women. It is used in hormone receptor-positive breast cancer after failure of a non-steroidal aromatase inhibitor, as the partner of everolimus (BOLERO-2), and with ovarian function suppression in premenopausal women (TEXT). In the combined SOFT and TEXT analysis, exemestane plus OFS improved 12-year disease-free survival over tamoxifen plus OFS (80.5% versus 75.9%, HR 0.79) without an overall survival difference. It is taken as 25 mg once daily after a meal and is generic. Whether its steroidal structure gives a real advantage after non-steroidal AI failure is not settled. For a newcomer, exemestane is the aromatase inhibitor most often chosen when another one has stopped working.","status":"approved","asOf":"2026-09-07","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exemestane","links":[{"label":"FDA label (DailyMed)","url":"https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/search.cfm?query=Exemestane"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":["breast-hr-positive","hr-positive-early-high-risk"],"sections":[],"technologies":["endocrine-therapy"],"targets":["estrogen-receptor"],"drugs":[],"companies":["pfizer"],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":["soft-text","evera","nct05768139","nct06979596","nct05774951","nct04906395","nct06016738","nct06957379","nct06492616","nct06428396","nct05514054","nct05827081","nct05573126"],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"brand":"Aromasin","modality":"Small-molecule steroidal aromatase inactivator","mechanism":"Irreversible 'suicide' inactivation of aromatase.","approvals":[{"region":"US","year":1999,"indication":"Advanced breast cancer after tamoxifen"},{"region":"US","year":2005,"indication":"Adjuvant after 2-3 years of tamoxifen"}],"mechanismSteps":[],"dosing":{"route":"Oral","schedule":"25 mg once daily after a meal"},"toxicity":[],"access":[],"regulatoryEvents":[]},"route":"/drugs/exemestane/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"hr-positive-early-high-risk","kind":"cancer","name":"High-risk early HR-positive breast cancer","route":"/cancers/hr-positive-early-high-risk/"},{"id":"breast-hr-positive","kind":"cancer","name":"HR-positive / HER2-negative breast cancer","route":"/cancers/breast-hr-positive/"},{"id":"hr-positive-metastatic-post-cdk46","kind":"cancer","name":"HR-positive metastatic breast cancer after CDK4/6 inhibitors","route":"/cancers/hr-positive-metastatic-post-cdk46/"}],"technology":[{"id":"acupuncture-aromatase-inhibitor-arthralgia","kind":"technology","name":"Acupuncture for aromatase-inhibitor joint pain","route":"/technologies/acupuncture-aromatase-inhibitor-arthralgia/"},{"id":"acupuncture-hot-flushes","kind":"technology","name":"Acupuncture for hot flushes on endocrine therapy","route":"/technologies/acupuncture-hot-flushes/"},{"id":"hair-antiandrogens-alopecia","kind":"technology","name":"Antiandrogens for hair: spironolactone, finasteride, dutasteride","route":"/technologies/hair-antiandrogens-alopecia/"},{"id":"cancer-treatment-bone-loss","kind":"technology","name":"Bone loss caused by cancer treatment, and what rebuilds it","route":"/technologies/cancer-treatment-bone-loss/"},{"id":"dietitian-led-weight-loss-breast","kind":"technology","name":"Dietitian-led weight-loss programmes in HR-positive breast cancer","route":"/technologies/dietitian-led-weight-loss-breast/"},{"id":"endocrine-therapy","kind":"technology","name":"Endocrine therapy (SERMs, AIs, SERDs)","route":"/technologies/endocrine-therapy/"},{"id":"menopause-after-cancer-treatment","kind":"technology","name":"Menopause brought on by cancer treatment, and the options for it","route":"/technologies/menopause-after-cancer-treatment/"},{"id":"minoxidil-chemotherapy-alopecia","kind":"technology","name":"Minoxidil for persistent chemotherapy- and endocrine-therapy hair loss","route":"/technologies/minoxidil-chemotherapy-alopecia/"},{"id":"vaginal-oestrogen-after-breast-cancer","kind":"technology","name":"Vaginal oestrogen after breast cancer: what the evidence says, and where it disagrees","route":"/technologies/vaginal-oestrogen-after-breast-cancer/"}],"target":[{"id":"aromatase","kind":"target","name":"Aromatase (CYP19A1)","route":"/targets/aromatase/"},{"id":"estrogen-receptor","kind":"target","name":"Estrogen receptor (ERα)","route":"/targets/estrogen-receptor/"}],"company":[{"id":"pfizer","kind":"company","name":"Pfizer (incl. Seagen)","route":"/companies/pfizer/"}],"trial":[{"id":"nct05774951","kind":"trial","name":"A Study of Camizestrant in ER+/HER2- Early Breast Cancer After at Least 2 Years of Standard Adjuvant Endocrine Therapy","route":"/trials/nct05774951/"},{"id":"nct06492616","kind":"trial","name":"A Study of Elacestrant Versus Standard Endocrine Therapy in Women and Men With ER+,HER2-, Early Breast Cancer With High Risk of Recurrence","route":"/trials/nct06492616/"},{"id":"nct05514054","kind":"trial","name":"A Study of Imlunestrant Versus Standard Endocrine Therapy in Participants With Early Breast Cancer","route":"/trials/nct05514054/"},{"id":"nct06979596","kind":"trial","name":"A Study of MK-5684 in People With Certain Solid Tumors (MK-5684-015/OMAHA-015)","route":"/trials/nct06979596/"},{"id":"bolero-2","kind":"trial","name":"BOLERO-2","route":"/trials/bolero-2/"},{"id":"evera","kind":"trial","name":"evERA","route":"/trials/evera/"},{"id":"nct05768139","kind":"trial","name":"First-in-Human Study of Tersolisib (STX-478) as Monotherapy and in Combination With Other Antineoplastic Agents in Participants With Advanced Solid Tumors","route":"/trials/nct05768139/"},{"id":"nct06016738","kind":"trial","name":"OP-1250 (Palazestrant) vs. Standard of Care for the Treatment of ER+/HER2- Advanced Breast Cancer","route":"/trials/nct06016738/"},{"id":"nct04906395","kind":"trial","name":"Ovarian Suppression Evaluating Subcutaneous Leuprolide Acetate in Breast Cancer","route":"/trials/nct04906395/"},{"id":"nct05573126","kind":"trial","name":"Phase 1/2 Study to Evaluate EP0062 as Monotherapy and in Combination in Patients With Advanced or Metastatic AR+/HER-2-/ER+ Breast Cancer","route":"/trials/nct05573126/"},{"id":"nct05827081","kind":"trial","name":"Phase IIIb Study of Ribociclib + ET in Early Breast Cancer","route":"/trials/nct05827081/"},{"id":"nct06957379","kind":"trial","name":"Sirolimus for Injection (Albumin-bound) in Combination With Endocrine Therapy for HR+/HER2- Advanced/Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients Who Have Failed Standard Therapy","route":"/trials/nct06957379/"},{"id":"soft-text","kind":"trial","name":"SOFT & TEXT","route":"/trials/soft-text/"},{"id":"nct06428396","kind":"trial","name":"Study of Belzutifan (MK-6482) Plus Fulvestrant for ER+/HER2- Metastatic Breast Cancer (MK-6482-029/LITESPARK-029)","route":"/trials/nct06428396/"}],"term":[{"id":"alopecia-endocrine-therapy","kind":"term","name":"Endocrine-therapy-induced alopecia","route":"/terms/alopecia-endocrine-therapy/"},{"id":"ovarian-function-suppression","kind":"term","name":"Ovarian function suppression (OFS)","route":"/terms/ovarian-function-suppression/"}],"drug":[{"id":"aminoglutethimide","kind":"drug","name":"Aminoglutethimide","route":"/drugs/aminoglutethimide/"},{"id":"anastrozole","kind":"drug","name":"Anastrozole","route":"/drugs/anastrozole/"},{"id":"formestane","kind":"drug","name":"Formestane","route":"/drugs/formestane/"}],"roadmap":[{"id":"hormonal-therapy-roadmap","kind":"roadmap","name":"Hormonal therapy roadmap: removing the ovaries → tamoxifen → oral degraders switched by a blood test","route":"/roadmaps/hormonal-therapy-roadmap/"}]}}