[Usefulness of ambulatory adjuvant chemotherapy with low-dose epirubicin in patients with axially-node positive breast cancer: Chiba Epirubicin Cooperative Study Group].
We evaluated the usefulness of adjuvant chemotherapy with low-dose epirubicin (EPI) as a key drug in patients with axially-node positive breast cancer. All the 24 patients who were entered in the study between January 1991 and December 1992 were shown histologically to have more than 4 axially-node involvement and underwent curable resection for the breast lesions. Twenty mg/m2 of EPI was administered intravenously every 4 weeks as ambulatory treatment for 1 year and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and tamoxifen (TAM) were concomitantly administered at a dose of 150 mg/day and 20-40 mg/day, respectively, daily for 2 years. The median follow-up period was 70 months with a 55.1% 5-year relapse-free survival and 67.4% 5-year survival rate. One patient developed Grade 3 nausea.vomiting, anorexia and general fatigue; however, the other toxicities were mild, such as Grade 1 leukopenia, liver dysfunction, nausea.vomiting, anorexia and general fatigue. This adjuvant therapy with low-dose EPI was safely administered to outpatients, and is considered to be useful for the treatment of axially-node positive breast cancer.
Miyauchi
M
M
Division of Breast Surgery, Chiba Cancer Center.
Yamamoto
N
N
Nakajima
N
N
Suzuki
M
M
Takahashi
M
M
Ohno
K
K
Ogawa
K
K
Tsukamoto
T
T
Yamamoto
K
K
Oheda
Y
Y
D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001365:Axilla; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D015251:Epirubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008875:Middle Aged; D015996:Survival Rate; D013629:Tamoxifen / Q000008:administration & dosage
D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic; D013629:Tamoxifen; D015251:Epirubicin; D005472:Fluorouracil