title: Tamoxifen versus control after adjuvant, risk-adapted chemotherapy in postmenopausal, receptor-negative patients with breast cancer: a randomized trial (GABG-IV D-93)--the German Adjuvant Breast Cancer Group.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effect of adjuvant sequential tamoxifen after chemotherapy in postmenopausal patients with hormone receptor-negative breast cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients were randomly assigned to oral tamoxifen (30 mg daily for 5 years; n = 421) or no additional treatment (n = 408) after risk-adapted polychemotherapy consisting of three 28-day cycles of CMF (cyclophosphamide, 500 mg/m(2), methotrexate, 40 mg/m(2), and fluorouracil, 600 mg/m(2)) in patients with negative or one to three positive lymph nodes and four 21-day cycles of epirubicin 90 mg/m(2), cyclophosphamide 600 mg/m(2) followed by three cycles of CMF in patients with four to nine positive lymph nodes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-six percent of the patients included were older than 60 years, 63% were node negative, 13% had four to nine positive nodes, 55% had tumor grade 3, and 41% received breast-preserving surgery. At 5.3 years' median follow-up, the first event of failure (recurrence, secondary tumor, or death) had occurred in 123 patients in the tamoxifen group and 107 patients of the control group. Event-free survival rates after 5 years were 70.3% (95% CI, 65.5% to 75.0%) and 72.8% (95% CI, 68.2% to 77.5%) for the tamoxifen and control groups, respectively. The estimated hazard ratio of tamoxifen versus control was 1.13 (95% CI, 0.87 to 1.48; P = .34), which gives no indication of an additional benefit of tamoxifen in these patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study contributes substantially to finalization of the presently emerging evidence that tamoxifen does not benefit women with receptor-negative breast cancer after chemotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Universitäts-Frauenklinik, Frankfurt, Germany. m.kaufmann@em.uni-frankfurt.de
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaufmann
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Graf
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jonat
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Eiermann
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Geberth
authors.forename: Ute-Susann
authors.initials: US
authors.lastname: Albert
authors.forename: Günther
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gademann
authors.forename: Bettina
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Conrad
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stahl
authors.forename: Gunter
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: von Minckwitz
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schumacher
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008727:Methotrexate / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D017698:Postmenopause; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D012307:Risk Factors; D015996:Survival Rate; D013629:Tamoxifen / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D013629:Tamoxifen; D003520:Cyclophosphamide; D005472:Fluorouracil; D008727:Methotrexate