Verzenio targets specific proteins (cdk 4 and 6) inside existing cancer cells to stop growth and AIs lower estrogen to starve cancer cells of food needed to grow to begin with. The two drugs perform completely different functions.

Verzenio is not easier to tolerate and is not an appropriate alternative for patients who cannot tolerate AIs. I took Verzenio and had to stop due to the severe toxicity of the drug. Not simple side effects. Life threatening toxicity. I have been taking Anastrozole for almost three years. There is no comparison. Lilly may get the FDA approval for monotherapy but that just means Lilly can market the drug to more patients.

Lilly’s American studies are written like PR marketing campaigns. If you look up the Verzenio studies in Japan you will learn that the Japanese government issued a safety alert about the drug.

I worked for Elsevier, Inc. (the largest medical publisher in the world) editing drug inserts and research studies. I have read the Monarch trials. The most important aspect to recognize is the study results are based only on data from patients who were able to stay in the study. The data doesn’t include the high number of patients who dropped out due to adverse events. That purposely skews the results. The percentage of dropouts in these studies was unusually high.

My former oncologist pushed Verzenio on me inappropriately. In my case the drug would only have reduced potential recurrence by about 2%. But the side effects were life threatening.

Make your decision based on your personal risk of recurrence, staging and prognosis. But don’t let Lilly’s marketing campaign force your decision with false promises.