Survival of High Risk Breast Cancer Patients Treated with Cyclophosphamide, Methotrexate and 5-FU as Adjuvant Therapy

Abstract

Background and Purpose: To evaluate the survival outcome of a new adjuvant chemotherapeutic regimen (adriamycin plus paclitaxel followed by cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and 5-FU) for high-risk breast cancer patients who had four or more axillary nodes metastasis. Methods: From July 1996 to September 2001, 16 eligible patients were given adriamycin plus paclitaxel for 5 courses followed by cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and 5-FU (CMF) for 6 courses. Adjuvant radiation therapy was given concurrently with CMF. If the hormonal receptor status of the tumor was positive, patients were given adjuvant tamoxifen for 5 years after completion of all chemotherapies. Results: After median follow-up of 55 months, 2 out of 16 patients relapsed and died. The other 14 patients were alive and disease free. The 5 years disease-free survival rate was 82%, overall survival rate 92%. Acute and late toxicities were modest and manageable. Conclusion: This is an effective and well-tolerated adjuvant regimen and worth further large randomized studies to confirm its advantage over the other anthracycle-taxane based regimens.