Gemcitabine, epirubicin and docetaxel as primary systemic therapy in patients with early breast cancer: results of a multicentre phase I/II study.

Developing primary systemic chemotherapy (PST) regimens that induce higher pathological complete response (pCR) rates remains a challenge in operable breast cancer. We recruited 77 eligible patients into a multicentre phase I/II study to evaluate the maximum tolerated dose (MTD), toxicity and efficacy of preoperative gemcitabine day 1 and 8 (800 mg/m(2) fixed dose), epirubicin and docetaxel on day 1 (doses escalated from 60 mg/m(2)) (GEDoc), repeated 3-weekly for 6 cycles with filgrastim support. MTD for epirubicin was 90 mg/m(2) and for docetaxel 75 mg/m(2).

Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in routine practice: a European perspective.

Goals Of Work: The aim of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) and its effect on patients' ability to carry out daily life activities following moderately to highly emetogenic, first-cycle chemotherapy in routine practice in cancer centers of four different European countries.

Patients And Methods: This was a prospective, cross-sectional, nonrandomized, self-assessment study in 249 patients enrolled from cancer centers in Spain, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. The study population consisted of 78% women, with a mean age of 54.

Only grading has independent impact on breast cancer survival after adjustment for pathological response to preoperative chemotherapy.

Our objective was to determine pretreatment factors with an independent impact on survival after adjusting for response to preoperative chemotherapy and to describe parameters predictive for achieving a pathological complete remission (pCR) after preoperative chemotherapy containing an anthracycline. We performed univariate and multivariate analyses to describe the impact of the following pretreatment characteristics of 240 primary breast cancer patients who received preoperative chemotherapy containing an anthracycline at our institution on disease-free survival (DFS), distant disease-free survival (DDFS) and overall survival (OS): age, stage, clinical tumor size, clinical nodal status, grading, and expression of estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, Her2/neu, Ki67, Bcl-2 and p53. Afterwards, the response to preoperative chemotherapy was added to the multivariate model in order to evaluate which pretreatment parameters retained their prognostic impact.

[Taxane-based palliative chemotherapy for metastatic breast cancer: matched pair analysis to compare the efficacy and safety of docetaxel and paclitaxel].

Objective: A retrospective comparison of the efficacy and toxicity of docetaxel and paclitaxel in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer (MBC) was conducted based on our institution's experience since 1992.

Methods: Two groups of 43 patients who received a similar chemotherapy regimen containing either docetaxel or paclitaxel were matched for the number of prior treatments.

Results: Toxicity was mild in both groups.

Tandem high-dose chemotherapy in high-risk primary breast cancer: a multivariate analysis and a matched-pair comparison with standard-dose chemotherapy.

Stem cell-supported high-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) is currently being evaluated in patients with high-risk primary breast cancer (HRPBC), as defined by extensive axillary lymph node involvement. Conclusive results from randomized studies with sufficient patient numbers and follow-up are pending. We retrospectively analyzed 144 HRPBC patients enrolled in a single-arm trial of tandem HDCT at the University of Heidelberg to evaluate the prognostic value of nodal ratio, HER2/neu status, and cytokeratin-positive bone marrow cells and to compare the outcomes of these patients with those of a conventionally treated control group of 91 patients matched by nodal ratio, tumor size, combined hormone-receptor status, and HER2/neu status.