Abstract
Background: The prognosis of patients with stage III B breast carcinoma with metastasis to the apical axillary lymph nodes is poor despite adequate local control achieved by surgery and/or radiation therapy. This study evaluated the feasibility of a dose-intensive up-front chemotherapy regimen in this subgroup of patients. Patients and methods: A preoperative chemotherapy regimen consisting of 3 courses of fluorouracil 500 mg/m2, dose-intensive epidoxorubicin 120 mg/m2 and cyclophosphamide 500 mg/m2 (DIE-FEC), was administered at 21-day intervals without hematopoietic growth factors to 31 patients with apex-positive disease. All patients were below 60 years of age and none had had prior chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Results: Seven patients achieved clinical complete responses (23%), and 21 achieved clinical partial responses (68%); three patients had stable disease (10%), one of whom had only ductal carcinoma in situ at histopathologic evaluation, which suggested an additional response to therapy. The major toxicity was moderate bone marrow suppression with a median WBC nadir of 1650/u.l (range 500-4600). Other toxic effects were mild. Conclusion: DIE-FEC is well-tolerated and highly effective as up-front chemotherapy in relatively young patients with high-risk breast cancer, with a 90% (CI 74%-98%) clinical objective response rate.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 791-792 |
Number of pages | 2 |
Journal | Annals of Oncology |
Volume | 4 |
Issue number | 9 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 1993 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Breast cancer
- Epirubicin
- Pre-operative chemotherapy
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Hematology
- Oncology