title: Systemic therapy.
abstract: New data continue to refine our knowledge of systemic therapy for breast cancer. These include the third Oxford Overview on adjuvant systemic therapy, a small advantage of anthracycline regimens over CMF (cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and 5-fluorouracil), and renewed interest in the "classic CMF" regimen. Primary chemotherapy offers a greater chance of breast conservation (although no survival advantage), and tamoxifen also benefits women with noninvasive disease. New data are available on biphosphonates, ovarian ablation, anti-estrogens, anti-HER-2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor-2) antibody, and HER-2 expression as a predictive or prognostic factor. Early results of high-dose chemotherapy have been released, and the role of taxanes in early and advanced disease continues to expand. This article reviews these and other recent advances.
authors.affiliation: The Johns Hopkins Oncology Center, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, USA. awolff@jhmi.edu
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Wolff
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic