Letrozole is a molecule found in a drug called FERAMA or LETROMINA.
It is used in the adjuvant treatment of hormone receptor positive early breast cancer in postmenopausal women.
But it is also prescribed as an extension of adjuvant treatment for early breast cancer in postmenopausal women who have already received standard treatment with tamoxifen for a period of 5 years, or as first-line treatment for advanced hormone-dependent breast cancer for the same profiles.
It is taken by people also in the treatment of advanced breast cancer in postmenopausal women (natural or artificial menopause), after a relapse or progression of the disease in women previously treated with milder anti-estrogens.
The recommended prescribed dose of letrozole is 2.5 mg once daily. No dose adjustment is required in the elderly patient.
How does Letrozole work?
Like a number of drugs that treat this type of cancer, this molecule acts directly on stopping estrogen stimulation.
However, two misuses of this product have been made, firstly in relation to the fight against infertility and secondly by a certain category of sportsmen.
In terms of fertility treatment, doctors discovered that it stimulated ovulation and began prescribing Letrozole to women who were experiencing fertility problems and wanted to have children. However, this is by no means the primary purpose of this product, and what’s more, many women have taken this treatment successfully.
Why is a drug for the treatment of breast cancer in postmenopausal women of interest to athletes, and which athletes should take this product?
Athletes who take testosterone, often along with other steroids, aim to build large amounts of muscle quickly. It is in their case to take lean muscle mass. This concerns bodybuilders or sports requiring a very high explosiveness.
However, there are many disadvantages to taking these types of products, and they should not simply take testosterone without complementary treatment.
Side effects of Letrozole
What are the constraints that these people may face?
Sportsmen and women using these products must be very vigilant to a very large number of side effects. The risks of muscle tears are important, and tendonitis is also very frequent.
It is also possible to have skin concerns with a strong development of acne. The risk of virilization exists for both men and women. But also impotence, headaches, liver disorders and also the development of breasts in men called gynecomastia.
The cause of this problem is due to the aromatization of the anabolic steroid. The testosterone is then converted into estrogen and will be fixed in the mammary glands, which causes a development of the breasts in men. Tenderness, hypersensitivity and then swelling of the breasts are the first symptoms of gynecomastia.
To avoid this type of inconvenience, it is necessary to take a product that acts directly on stopping the stimulation of estrogen. Letrozole is therefore a molecule that corresponds perfectly to this type of symptom, and will help stop this situation. Letrozole has been shown to reduce estrogen levels in the body by 98% or more.
Whether for bodybuilders or athletes who practice athletics, it is used as an anabolic compound in steroid cycles because, as stated above, it reduces the amount of estrogen in the body significantly. It also slightly increases testosterone levels.
Letrozole, in addition to reducing the percentage of estrogens (by lowering them to almost zero), allows in the phases of important mass gain to develop this mass with the added advantage of eliminating water and leaning the muscles.
In addition, this product, letrozole, allows bodybuilders who regularly take steroids to limit the testicular reduction associated with the use of other products. But also what is not negligible, is that it limits or reduces incipient or already existing Gynecomastia.
However, the side effects of letrozole are real. The most common symptoms are profuse sweating, bone and/or joint pain, fatigue and hot flashes.
The bodybuilders, on the other hand, have a completely different experience finding this product very appropriate, because less estrogen in the body means less chance of encountering certain side effects such as water retention, Gynecomastia, acne, compared to taking their other products.
Letrozole is two to five times more potent than anastrozole (Arimidex), but it takes longer to take effect. It is necessary to take letrozone for 60 days to achieve a good balance in the blood plasma. For a shorter duration, the results will be less visible or non-existent.
Finally, for the enthusiasts of the bodybuilding rooms, and even better for those who are competitive bodybuilders, this product allows them to obtain good results while continuing to take products that will make them “gain” mass in a significant way. This while succeeding in not retaining water and thus to strier the muscles, and to nicely cut the muscular mass. This with guarantees of “brakes” on the bad effects of other products they take. Bodybuilders have a real advantage in using this product.