Safety of adjuvant dose-dense chemotherapy with paclitaxel and epirubicin for high-risk breast cancer.
- Author:
Wei-Hua WU
1
;
Qing LI
;
Bing-He XU
;
Pin ZHANG
;
Long-Mei ZHAO
;
Peng YUAN
;
Jia-Yu WANG
;
Rui-Gang CAI
;
Ai-Ping ZHOU
Author Information
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- MeSH: Adult; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols; administration & dosage; adverse effects; therapeutic use; Breast Neoplasms; drug therapy; pathology; surgery; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; Epirubicin; administration & dosage; adverse effects; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor; administration & dosage; therapeutic use; Humans; Lymphatic Metastasis; Mastectomy; methods; Middle Aged; Nausea; chemically induced; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; Neoplastic Cells, Circulating; Neutropenia; chemically induced; Paclitaxel; administration & dosage; adverse effects; Survival Rate; Vomiting; chemically induced; Young Adult
- From: Chinese Journal of Oncology 2008;30(7):548-551
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
OBJECTIVETo investigate the safety and tolerance of adjuvant dose-dense chemotherapy with paclitaxel and epirubicin for high-risk breast cancer.
METHODSFrom January 2004 to December 2006, 101 patients with high-risk breast cancer after surgical resection were enrolled into this study. The patients were divided into two groups: dose-dense and regular groups. Each patient received 6 cycles of chemotherapy with intravenous administration of paclitaxel (175 mg/m2, on D3) and epirubicin (60 mg/m2, on Dl and D2). The dose-dense group had repeated treatment every two weeks, while the regular group repeated it every three weeks. G-CSF was used in a dose of 3 microg/kg on D5-D9 during each cycle in the dose-dense group. While in the regular group, it was used only under the condition that grade II neutropenia occurred.
RESULTSThe toxicity could be evaluated in 101 patients. Major grade II-IV toxicities included: neutropenia, nausea, vomiting and alopecia. The incidence of grade III-IV neutropenia was 16.0% in the dose-dense group versus 54.9% in the regular group (P = 0.000); postponing of chemotherapy was 2.4% versus 6.0% (P = 0.027). Ninety-eight patients completed the chemotherapy as planed. After a median follow-up of 24 months, the median DFS and OS were not reached. The relapse-free rate and survival rate were 89.8% and 100% in the dose-dense group, which were 87.8% and 93.9% in the regular group. The relapse-free rate of the high-risk patients in the dose-dense group was 86.8% versus 81.3% in the regular group, and the corresponding survival rate was 100% versus 90.6%.
CONCLUSIONAdjuvant dose-dense chemotherapy with paclitaxel and epirubicin is safe, tolerable and promising for high-risk breast cancer.