anthracyclines biting the dust? Docetaxel/cyclophosphamide better than doxorubicin/C

[Lani]

As Dr. Slamon has said, there doesn't seem to be any benefit compensurate with the added cardiac risk of anthracyclines vs taxanes...

Docetaxel Better Than Doxorubicin in Early Breast Cancer


NEW YORK Feb 19 - In women with early-stage breast cancer, treatment with docetaxel with cyclophosphamide (TC) achieved a greater overall survival benefit than doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide (AC), researchers report in a February 9th on-line publication in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

"Long-term follow-up of the TC regimen," lead investigator Dr. Stephen Jones told Reuters Health, "confirms its superiority over a standard anthracycline-based regimen and offers women a regimen with less potential long-term toxicity involving the bone marrow and heart."

Dr. Jones, of US Oncology Research, Dallas, Texas, and colleagues studied 1016 women who had been randomized to receive infusions of TC (75/600 mg/m) or AC (60/600 mg/m) every 3 weeks for 4 cycles.

With a median follow-up of 7 years, disease-free survival in the TC group was 81%, significantly greater than the 75% seen in the AC patients. Overall survival was also significantly greater with TC (87% versus 82%).

"There was no interaction of hormone receptor status or HER-2 status and treatment," the authors said.

Given the findings overall, concluded Dr. Jones, "Many women worldwide can now be safely treated with an effective non-anthracycline regimen."

J Clin Oncol 2009.