title: Retrospective Analysis of the Results of Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer Patients with 10 or More Positive Nodes: Nonrandomized Comparison of Adriamycin-Containing Regimens.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the results of adriamycin-based adjuvant chemotherapy with or without high dose chemotherapy (HDC) with stem cell transplantation (SCT) in breast cancer with 10 or more positive axillary nodes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy-one breast cancer patients who had undergone surgery and had 10 or more positive axillary nodes were included in this study held between January 1997 and December 1999. The pathologic and clinical records were reviewed retrospectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-nine patients were treated with adriamycin followed by 8 courses of CMF (group I); 22 patients received 4 courses of adriamycin and 7 patients received 3 courses of adriamycin. Twenty-six patients received median 6 courses of CAF (group II) and 16 patients underwent HDC and autologous SCT (group III). With a median follow-up of 27.1 months, relapses were observed in 24 patients (33.8%) and the 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) rate was 57.1%; group I/II 55.4%, and group III 62.7%. The three-year overall survival (OS) rate was 86.1%; group I/II 83.0%, group III 93.8%. There were no difference in the 3-year DFSs or in the OSs of group I and group II. However, patients who received only 3 courses of the sequential adriamycin in group I showed a significantly poorer 3-year OS than those that received 4 courses of adriamycin (42.9% vs. 95.5%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study shows that adriamycin-containing combination chemotherapy is as effective as HDC with SCT in patients with 10 or more positive axillary lymph nodes judging by 3-year DFS and OS, and shows that three courses of adriamycin seems to be inadequate.
authors.forename: Jin Hee
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Haeseoung
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bahng
authors.forename: Jeong Gyun
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sung Bae
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sei Hyun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Hyesook
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Jung Shin
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Sang Hee
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Woo Kun
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: Adjuvant chemotherapy; Adriamycin; Breast neoplasm; Stem cell transplantation