Adjuvant tamoxifen in postmenopausal high-risk breast cancer patients: present status of Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group trials.
The aim of the present study was to analyze the efficacy of adjuvant tamoxifen (TAM) in postmenopausal patients with high-risk breast cancer. The primary surgical treatment was total mastectomy with axillary sampling. There were 1,650 eligible patients; 829 were randomized to receive postoperative radiotherapy (RT) and 821, to receive RT + TAM (10 mg three times daily for 1 yr). The 2 groups were identical with respect to age, tumor size, number of positive lymph nodes, degree of anaplasia, and estrogen and progesterone receptor content. Overall recurrence-free survival at 6 years was 39% in the RT group, compared to 48% in the RT + TAM group (P = 0.0008), but there was no significant difference in survival (P = 0.14). From retrospective analyses of recurrence-free survival according to prognostic variables, it appears that 4 subgroups of patients benefited from adjuvant TAM: those less than 69 years of age, those with 4 or more positive nodes, those with grade I-II tumors, and those with high estrogen receptor values (greater than 100 fmol/mg cytosol protein).
D000368:Aged; D001365:Axilla; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000532:radiotherapy; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003718:Denmark; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology; D008408:Mastectomy; D008593:Menopause; D008875:Middle Aged; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012306:Risk; D013629:Tamoxifen / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D013629:Tamoxifen