Journal of the National Cancer Institute
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J. Natl. Cancer Inst. · Jul 2002
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialEndocrine responsiveness and tailoring adjuvant therapy for postmenopausal lymph node-negative breast cancer: a randomized trial.
The role of adjuvant chemotherapy in postmenopausal patients with lymph node-negative breast cancer is controversial. After demonstrating the efficacy of chemotherapy combined with tamoxifen for postmenopausal patients with lymph node-positive disease, the International Breast Cancer Study Group launched a randomized trial (Trial IX) to evaluate the role of adjuvant chemotherapy preceding treatment with tamoxifen for patients with lymph node-negative disease. ⋯ Postmenopausal patients with lymph node-negative breast cancer benefited substantially from adjuvant chemotherapy if their cancer was ER-negative (i.e., endocrine-nonresponsive). In contrast, if their cancer was ER-positive (i.e., endocrine-responsive), they obtained no benefit from the combination treatment compared with tamoxifen alone.