Randomized phase II trial of the anti-angiogenic potential of doxorubicin and docetaxel; primary chemotherapy as Biomarker Discovery Laboratory.

Purpose: Primary chemotherapy provides an ideal opportunity to correlate potential non-invasive surrogate markers of angiogenesis with tumor microvessel density (MVD) and response.

Patients And Methods: Patients with newly diagnosed stages II or III breast cancer were treated with sequential doxorubicin 75 mg/M2 q2 wks x 3 and docetaxel 40 mg/M2 weekly x 6; treatment order was randomly assigned. Potential serologic and imaging markers of angiogenesis were obtained pre-treatment, at crossover and completion of chemotherapy.