Is it possible to increase pCR in the neoadjuvant treatment with a dose-dense/sequential combination?: results from a phase II Trial combining epirubicin and cyclophosphamide followed by paclitaxel and gemcitabine ± trastuzumab in stage II and III breast cancer patients.

Purpose: To evaluate the pathologic complete response (pCR) rate of a combination of epirubicin (E) and cyclophosphamide (C) followed by paclitaxel (P) and gemcitabine (G) (+ trastuzumab[T]) in Her2+ patients) in a sequential and dose-dense schedule as neoadjuvant chemotherapy for stages II and III patients with breast cancer. Secondary endpoints: clinical response rate, disease free survival, safety and correlation between pCR and biologic markers.

Patients And Methods: Eligible patients were treated with E (90 mg/m²) and C (600 mg/m²) for 3 cycles (first sequence) followed by P (150 mg/m²) and G (2500 mg/m²) (second sequence) for 6 cycles.

Tumour molecular subtyping according to hormone receptors and HER2 status defines different pathological complete response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced breast cancer.

Purpose: To study the role of breast cancer molecular subtypes according to hormone receptors and HER2 status as a predictive factor for pathological complete response (pCR) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Patients And Methods: Eligible patients received one of the two chemotherapy schedules every two weeks with prophylactic growth factor support; schedule A: epirubicin 90 mg/m2-cyclophosphamide 600 mg/m2 d1 for 3 cycles followed by a second sequence with paclitaxel (P) 150 mg/ m2-gemcitabine (G) 2500 mg/m2 d1+/-trastuzumab (T) 2 mg/kg/week according to HER2 status (n=73); schedule B: adriamycin (40 mg/m2) d1 plus P (150 mg/m2)-G (2000 mg/m2) d2 for 6 cycles (n=54). Subsequently, patients underwent surgery, radiotherapy and/or adjuvant hormonal therapy according to standard practice.

Triplet chemotherapy combination with gemcitabine, cisplatin and ifosfamide in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer: phase II study.

A phase II study was conducted to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the combination GIP (gemcitabine, ifosfamide, and cisplatin) for the treatment of patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Thirty patients with stage III B/IV NSCLC were treated with a combination of GIP. Patients received gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m2 administered intravenously on days 1 and 8, ifosfamide 3,500 mg/m2 on day 2, and cisplatin 80 mg/m2 on day 2, repeated every 21 days.