Docetaxel and high-dose epirubicin as neoadjuvant chemotherapy in locally advanced breast cancer.

Purpose: Epirubicin and docetaxel are two of the most active drugs against breast carcinoma. As the achievement of a pathological complete response (pCR) is important for survival of patients with locally advanced disease, we used both drugs as neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Patients And Methods: Women with locally advanced or inflammatory breast cancer received epirubicin 120 mg/m2 followed by docetaxel 75 mg/m2, both on day 1, every 21 days for four cycles.

Epirubicin-cyclophosphamide adjuvant chemotherapy plus tamoxifen administered concurrently versus sequentially: randomized phase III trial in postmenopausal node-positive breast cancer patients. A GEICAM 9401 study.

Background: A prospective randomized clinical trial was implemented to assess whether the concomitant or the sequential addition of tamoxifen to chemotherapy provides improved clinical benefit in the adjuvant treatment of breast cancer in postmenopausal patients.

Patients And Methods: Four-hundred and eighty-five patients with node-positive operable disease were randomized to receive tamoxifen (20 mg/day) concomitantly (CON) or sequentially (SEQ) to EC chemotherapy (epirubicin 75 mg/m(2) + cyclophosphamide 600 mg/m(2) on day 1, every 21 days for four cycles).

Results: In the 474 fully evaluable patients there were 96 events; eight being second neoplasms and 88 being related to the breast cancer.

Combination of low-dose cisplatin and gemcitabine for treatment of elderly patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer.

Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility, toxicity and efficacy of the combination of low-dose cisplatin (CDDP) and gemcitabine (GEM) in elderly patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Patients And Methods: This phase II trial included 46 patients aged 70 years or older with previously untreated advanced NSCLC. All patients were evaluable for response and toxicity.

Retrospective evaluation of toxicity in three different schedules of adjuvant chemotherapy for patients with resected colorectal cancer. TTD Spanish Cooperative Group.

Adjuvant chemotherapy has been established since 1990 as standard treatment for patients with colon cancer stage III (Dukes' C). Chemotherapeutic schemes combining 5-fluorouracil with levamisole or leucovorin have shown significant advantage over surgery alone. Adjuvant trials are being currently implemented to investigate some relevant questions, such as which is the optimal duration of chemotherapy, as well as the possible advantage of levamisol versus leucovorin schedules, and of high-dose versus low-dose leucovorin.