title: Adjuvant chemotherapy with a combination of mitoxantrone, methotrexate, 5-fluorouracil for node-positive breast cancer: phase II pilot study.
abstract: A phase II pilot study was carried out on 30 patients to ascertain the toxicity and efficacy of combination chemotherapy with mitoxantrone, methotrexate, 5-fluorouracil (NMF) in the adjuvant setting for axillary lymph node-positive breast cancer. The NMF regimen was mitoxantrone 10 mg/m2, methotrexate 40 mg/m2, and 5-fluorouracil 600 mg/m2 administered i.v. on day 1, repeated every 3-4 weeks for 6 cycles. The median nadir WBC count was 2,000/microl; grade 4 leukocytopenia occurred only in 1 patient. Nausea and vomiting appeared as grade 0 and 1 severity in 26/30 patients. Alopecia was extremely mild, appeared as grade 0 and 1 in 29/30 patients. The overall and relapse-free survival rates were 67.8% and 68.4% at the 82-month follow-up, respectively. The overall survival rate in premenopausal patients was significantly better than that in postmenopausal patients (P<0.05). NMF is a well-tolerated combination regimen, suitable as adjuvant chemotherapy for node-positive breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, NTT Kanazawa Hospital, Japan. m.kanno@hokuriku.hkr.ntt.co.jp
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kanno
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Uotani
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Taniya
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mura
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bando
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kawahara
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsugawa
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Noguchi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001365:Axilla; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008727:Methotrexate / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008875:Middle Aged; D008942:Mitoxantrone / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D008942:Mitoxantrone; D005472:Fluorouracil; D008727:Methotrexate