title: Is anthracycline-based chemotherapy alone adequate for young women with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer?
abstract: Recent evidence suggests that young women with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer (BC) require additional treatment because of the inadequacy of cyclophosphamide, methotrexate fluorouracil (CMF) alone. Herein we report our findings from 368 premenopausal patients given adjuvant anthracycline alone. Overall, patients had a significantly increasing risk of relapse and dying with decreasing age at diagnosis and ER-negative disease. Interestingly, ER expression was not a negative prognostic factor, even among women <35 years, the 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) tending to be higher in patients with ER-positive rather than -negative BC. The potential of combining anthracyclines and endocrine therapies is reviewed and discussed.
authors.affiliation: Division of Medical Oncology A, Regina Elena Cancer Institute, Via Elio Chianesi 53, 00144 Rome, Italy. p.papaldo@mclink.it
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Papaldo
authors.forename: Serena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Di Cosimo
authors.forename: Gianluigi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ferretti
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Carlini
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fabi
authors.forename: Fabiana
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cecere
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cognetti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018943:Anthracyclines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008875:Middle Aged; D009376:Neoplasms, Hormone-Dependent / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D018943:Anthracyclines; D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen