Adjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of breast cancer: results of a multicentre study.
248 patients with locally radically treated early breast cancer (196 node-positive) were randomized post-operatively between 6 courses of a 'CMF like' chemotherapy and no further treatment. Results (with a minimum of 5 years follow-up on every patient) favour chemotherapy with a significant increase in the median time to recurrence from 31 to 50 months for all patients (P = 0.04) and from 26 to 49 months for node-positive patients (P = 0.023). No significant effect on survival is seen although there is a trend towards longer survival in the treated group. The regimen used was relatively non-toxic when compared to the traditional CMF with 34% of patients experiencing mild nausea and vomiting immediately post-injection and only 11% complaining of more severe nausea and vomiting. Because of this lower toxicity the treatment was found to be amenable to administration in both regional hospitals and specialized centres.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009325:Nausea / Q000139:chemically induced; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D010976:Platelet Count; D011897:Random Allocation; D013997:Time Factors; D014839:Vomiting / Q000139:chemically induced