Emergence of nonanthracycline regimens in the adjuvant  treatment of breast cancer.
Long-term toxicity of adjuvant regimens is a critical consideration given improvements in survival and consequential management of treatment-related side effects. Despite their well-documented long-term side effects, including a cumulative dose-dependent cardiotoxicity and an increase in the incidence of secondary leukemia, anthracyclines remain an integral component of many adjuvant regimens for breast cancer. The utility of HER-2/TOP2A coamplification in predicting sensitivity to anthracycline chemotherapy has been widely suggested but requires substantiation. The recent maturation of two large phase III trials that directly examined the substitution of a taxane for an anthracycline in the adjuvant setting provides further data to critically evaluate the standard use of anthracyclines in the treatment of early-stage breast cancer. Results from both US Oncology 9735 and BCIRG 006 demonstrated equivalent efficacies in taxane- and anthracycline comparator arms. However, in both trials, the taxane-based regimen(s) resulted in less relative toxicity than the anthracycline-based regimen(s). These trial results pose legitimate questions regarding the future application of anthracyclines in the adjuvant breast cancer setting.
Department of Medical Oncology & Experimental Therapeutics, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, CA 91010, USA. spal@coh.org
Sumanta K
SK
Pal
Barrett H
BH
Childs
Mark
M
Pegram
D000368:Aged; D018943:Anthracyclines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant / Q000379:methods*; D017326:Clinical Trials, Phase III as Topic; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D007938:Leukemia / Q000139:chemically induced; D008875:Middle Aged; D043823:Taxoids / Q000627:therapeutic use
D018943:Anthracyclines; D043823:Taxoids