title: Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) content of primary carcinoma and response to endocrine or cytotoxic drug therapies in patients with advanced breast cancer.
abstract: The DNA content of primary carcinomas was estimated colorimetrically in 111 patients with carcinoma of the breast who subsequently developed metastatic disease. The data were analysed to investigate whether these measurements will assist clinicians in predicting: survival from mastectomy or recurrence, the likelihood of response to the first endocrine or the first cytotoxic drug therapy, duration of response amongst responders to these treatments, and time to treatment failure (TTTF). The DNA content of primary carcinomas failed to predict the clinical course of the disease for patients who underwent endocrine treatments. In patients who were treated by cytotoxic drug therapies, only the duration of response amongst responders to these therapies was significantly shorter in cases where the DNA content was high. The DNA content of carcinomas failed to give any useful information on other parameters. It is concluded that these measurements are unlikely to be of prognostic value in these cases.
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000032:analysis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology; D002369:Castration; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008408:Mastectomy / Q000401:mortality; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011239:Prednisolone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011379:Prognosis; D013629:Tamoxifen / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D013629:Tamoxifen; D011239:Prednisolone