Treatment Information

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Breast Cancer treatment details. Chemotherapy, Immunotherapy.

Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto, Canada.

Survival: monthsCountry:Canada
Toxiciy Grade:5City/State/Province:Toronto
Treatments:Chemotherapy, ImmunotherapyHospital:Princess Margaret Hospital
Drugs:Journal:Link
Date:Jan 2008

Description:

Patients: This study initially involved 386 women with metastatic breast cancer. Of this group, 224 women responded to initial chemotherapy and agreed to be in the study comparing different treatments. The median age was 47, ranging from 25 to 67 years old.

Treatment: These women were divided into two groups. The groups received either high-dose chemotherapy with peripheral blood stem cell support or standard chemotherapy. High-dose chemotherapy consisted of cyclophosphamide, mitoxantrone, and carboplatin. The standard chemotherapy drugs administered depended on which treatments the women had previously received. Women that previously received anthracyclines were treated with paclitaxel or docetaxel. Women that did not have anthracycline treatment were treated with fluorouracil and cyclophosphamide with either epirubicin or doxorubicin.

Toxicity: Seven women died from treatment-related toxicities. The majority (five) were due to infection, the others died from liver failure and congestive cardiomyopathy. These deaths all occurred in the high-dose chemotherapy plus stem-cell therapy group. This group also had more grade 3 and 4 toxicities, including anemia, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, febrile neutropenia, and infection.

Results: The median overall survival was 28 months in women receiving standard chemotherapy, and 24 months in those treated with high-dose chemotherapy and peripheral blood stem cell support.

Correspondence: Dr. Michael Crump



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