[Usefulness of ambulatory adjuvant chemotherapy with low-dose epirubicin in patients with axially-node positive breast cancer: Chiba Epirubicin Cooperative Study Group]

Gan To Kagaku Ryoho. 2001 Jan;28(1):43-8.
[Article in Japanese]

Abstract

We evaluated the usefulness of adjuvant chemotherapy with low-dose epirubicin (EPI) as a key drug in patients with axially-node positive breast cancer. All the 24 patients who were entered in the study between January 1991 and December 1992 were shown histologically to have more than 4 axially-node involvement and underwent curable resection for the breast lesions. Twenty mg/m2 of EPI was administered intravenously every 4 weeks as ambulatory treatment for 1 year and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and tamoxifen (TAM) were concomitantly administered at a dose of 150 mg/day and 20-40 mg/day, respectively, daily for 2 years. The median follow-up period was 70 months with a 55.1% 5-year relapse-free survival and 67.4% 5-year survival rate. One patient developed Grade 3 nausea.vomiting, anorexia and general fatigue; however, the other toxicities were mild, such as Grade 1 leukopenia, liver dysfunction, nausea.vomiting, anorexia and general fatigue. This adjuvant therapy with low-dose EPI was safely administered to outpatients, and is considered to be useful for the treatment of axially-node positive breast cancer.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • English Abstract
  • Multicenter Study

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Ambulatory Care*
  • Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / administration & dosage*
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / therapeutic use*
  • Axilla
  • Breast Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Breast Neoplasms / mortality
  • Breast Neoplasms / pathology
  • Breast Neoplasms / surgery
  • Chemotherapy, Adjuvant
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Drug Administration Schedule
  • Epirubicin / administration & dosage*
  • Female
  • Fluorouracil / administration & dosage
  • Humans
  • Lymph Nodes / pathology*
  • Lymphatic Metastasis
  • Middle Aged
  • Survival Rate
  • Tamoxifen / administration & dosage

Substances

  • Antibiotics, Antineoplastic
  • Tamoxifen
  • Epirubicin
  • Fluorouracil