title: Adjuvant therapy of breast cancer with pirarubicin versus epirubicin in combination with cyclophosphamide and 5-fluorouracil.
abstract: We performed a retrospective study of 856 breast cancer patients in our hospital, to compare the therapeutic effect of pirarubicin with cyclophosphamide and 5-fluorouracil (CPF) with the standard epirubicin-based regimen (CEF) in adjuvant treatment of breast cancer. Patients were given cyclophosphamide and 5-fluorouracil 500 mg/m(2) each, and either pirarubicin 40 mg/m(2) or epirubicin 75-100 mg/m(2) , every 3 weeks, six cycles. A total of 233 patients used CPF and 623 patients used CEF regimen. The clinical and pathologic characteristics were well balanced between the two groups. The median follow-up time was 41 months, relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) were similar in both groups, p = 0.561 and p = 0.783, respectively. No treatment-related congestive heart failure or death was observed in either group. Regardless of chemotherapy regimens, only tumor size, lymph node status, and ER status were predictive factors in multivariate survival analysis. In stratified analysis, the total hazard ratio estimate for RFS was 0.876 (95% CI 0.561-1.369; p = 0.562), not in favor of either regimen, and no significant difference was observed in any subgroups between the two treatment arms. Our study verified that 3 weekly CPF gives the same efficacy and safety as the standard CEF; both CPF and CEF are the effective regimens that can be used in adjuvant chemotherapy of breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Breast Surgery, Cancer Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Jun-Jie
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Gen-Hong
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Di
authors.forename: Li-Chen
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Ke-Da
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Guang-Yu
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jing-Song
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Jiong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Qi-Xia
authors.initials: QX
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Zhen-Zhou
authors.initials: ZZ
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Zhi-Ming
authors.initials: ZM
authors.lastname: Shao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004317:Doxorubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D015251:Epirubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D015251:Epirubicin; D004317:Doxorubicin; D003520:Cyclophosphamide; C027260:pirarubicin; D005472:Fluorouracil