In what could be a stunning breakthrough in the medical community, researchers have found that two inexpensive classes of drugs that are available in generic form can significantly reduce the recurrent of breast cancer in post-menopausal woman, and even lower total deaths.

And that’s not all: taking both medications may not only increase the anti-cancer benefits both, but also cancel out each other’s side effects, according to an Agence France-Presse report.

The findings, published in the journal The Lancet, is from the first meta-study that uses data from nine trials including 30,000 post-menopausal women. It found that endocrine treatments based on aromatase inhibitors result in higher survival rates after five years as comapred to using tamoxifen as part of a standard endocrine therapy.

After the treatment started, the risk of cancer recurring was cut by a third, and death rates dropped 15 percent — a huge improvement. The difference was even more pronounced when compared to those who didn’t take any treatment — the death risk dropped a whopping 40 percent.

Breast cancer typically develops after women go through menopause, and it can be difficult to remove the cancer because the body’s own hormones can cause cancer cells to grow even after all detectable traces have been removed.

Using endocrine therapies is though to help stop these hormones from causing the cancer to come back. However, this aromatase inhibitor treatment has its own side effects.

A second meta-study looked at a class of drugs called biphosphonates, which are typically used for treating a bone-weakening condition called osteoporosis, and found that it also boosted survival rates after two years.

Scientists say these drugs are complementary, as the second drug helps cancel out some of the side effects of the first: an increase in bone loss and more fractures.