Clinical breast cancer
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Clinical breast cancer · Apr 2006
ReviewAdjuvant taxanes in the treatment of breast cancer: no longer at the tip of the iceberg.
Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality, and a cure is desperately needed. Adjuvant chemotherapy with anthracycline-based regimens has been proven to decrease the risk of relapse and cancer-related mortality in women with early-stage breast cancer. ⋯ Thus, taxanes should be incorporated into the adjuvant treatment of breast cancer. To date, the available data do not allow one to select a single best taxane, schedule, or overall regimen.
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Clinical breast cancer · Feb 2006
Phase II study of neoadjuvant docetaxel/ vinorelbine followed by surgery and adjuvant doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide in women with stage II/III breast cancer.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the combination of docetaxel plus vinorelbine as neoadjuvant chemotherapy for stage II/III locally advanced breast cancer. ⋯ With a clinical response rate of 98% and an in-breast pCR rate of 27%, docetaxel/vinorelbine is among the most active neoadjuvant regimens reported for locally advanced breast cancer. Docetaxel/vinorelbine can be administered in a dose-dense fashion while maintaining relative dose intensity. However, there was a significant incidence of fever and neutropenia despite the use of prophylactic growth factors and quinolones, indicating that lower doses of docetaxel/vinorelbine should be evaluated in future studies.
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Clinical breast cancer · Dec 2005
Multicenter StudyTwo concurrent phase II trials of paclitaxel/carboplatin/trastuzumab (weekly or every-3-week schedule) as first-line therapy in women with HER2-overexpressing metastatic breast cancer: NCCTG study 983252.
The efficacy and tolerability of 2 different schedules of paclitaxel/carboplatin/trastuzumab for HER2-overexpressing metastatic breast cancer (MBC) were evaluated in this parallel multicenter phase II trial. ⋯ Every-3-week and weekly regimens of paclitaxel/carboplatin/trastuzumab are highly active in women with HER2-overexpressing MBC. However, fewer patients developed severe neutropenia, leukopenia, or thrombocytopenia with the weekly schedule.
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Clinical breast cancer · Dec 2005
Randomized Controlled TrialTreatment of chemotherapy-induced anemia in breast cancer: results of a randomized controlled trial of darbepoetin alfa 200 microg every 2 weeks versus epoetin alfa 40,000 U weekly.
Current chemotherapy regimens for breast cancer result in high incidences of anemia, which can be treated with erythropoietic agents. The relative efficacy of darbepoetin alfa and epoetin alfa was explored in this phase II, open-label, randomized, multicenter trial in anemic patients with breast cancer receiving chemotherapy. ⋯ These results suggest that, in patients with breast cancer, darbepoetin alfa 200 microg every 2 weeks and epoetin alfa 40,000 U weekly result in comparable clinical outcomes for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced anemia.
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Clinical breast cancer · Aug 2005
Evaluation of clinical outcomes according to HER2 detection by fluorescence in situ hybridization in women with metastatic breast cancer treated with trastuzumab.
We evaluated the influence of HER2 gene amplification, as determined by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), on clinical outcomes (objective response rates, time to disease progression, and overall survival time) in women with metastatic breast cancer treated with trastuzumab in 3 clinical trials. Breast cancer tissue specimens were evaluated using a direct labeled, dual-probe FISH assay. ⋯ These data indicate that assessment of HER2 amplification by FISH is the preferred method to select patients for trastuzumab therapy.