St. Gallen, Switzerland (ots/PRNewswire)

• Promising News for Breast Cancer Patients
• Web Cast Briefing Available at http://www.ibcsg.org/index.shtm

     WHAT:     BIG 1-98: First results and implications. A landmark,
               independent study found that letrozole, a leading aromatase
               inhibitor also known as Femara, demonstrated better efficacy
               in reducing the risk of recurrence for breast cancer compared
               with the current standard of care, tamoxifen.
               Significant findings include:
               - Letrozole reduced the risk of breast cancer recurrence by
                 19% compared with tamoxifen
               - Letrozole significantly prolonged disease free survival
                 compared with tamoxifen
               - Letrozole reduced the risk of breast cancer mestasis by 27%
                 compared with the reduction offered by tamoxifen
               This Web cast offers a presentation of the BIG 1-98 trial
               results presented at the Primary Therapy of Early Breast
               Cancer 9th International Conference in St. Gallen, Switzerland
               and an understanding of what the trial results
               mean for patients.
               BIG 1-98 is an independent Phase III, randomized, double-
               blind, controlled clinical trial of more than 8,000
               postmenopausal women with early breast cancer
               from 27 countries
     WHEN:     1:05 pm ET / 7:05 pm. CET, Wednesday, 26 January
     WHERE:    Click on the following link and view the Web cast data
               presentation: http://www.ibcsg.org/index.shtm
     WHO:      PD Beat Thurlimann, M.D., Scientific Secretary General,
               Primary Therapy of Early Breast Cancer, Head of the Senology
               Center of Eastern Switzerland, Kantonsspital St. Gallen,
               Presentation of the BIG 1-98 Trial Results
     CONTACTS: For questions or to arrange an interview with PD Beat
               Thurlimann, please contact:
               Rum Ekhtiar                  Nadia Munarini, PhD
               Ruder Finn                   IBCSG
               Tel. +1-212-593-5821         Tel. +41-31-389-92-27
                ekhtiarr@ruderfinn.com        nadia.munarini@ibcsg.org

Web Site: http://www.ibcsg.org/index.shtm

Contact:

Nadia Munarini, PhD, IBCSG, +41-31-389-92-27, or
nadia.munarini@ibcsg.org; Rum Ekhtiar of Ruder Finn, +1-212-593-5821,
or ekhtiarr@ruderfinn.com, for IBCSG