Disease-free Survival Patterns Research Articles

Long-term survival outcomes of esophagectomy with off-pump CABG versus esophagectomy alone.

This study aimed to evaluate the long-term survival outcomes of esophagectomy with off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCABG) vs. esophagectomy alone. A total of 1798 patients who received esophagectomy between January 2010 and February 2020 were included and divided into the 38 patients who underwent OPCABG followed by esophagectomy (OP + ES group) and 1760 patients had only esophagectomy (ES group). Propensity score matching (PSM) and Cox multivariable analyses were performed to compare postoperative complications, disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) between the two groups. There were 37 patients in the OP + ES group matched with 74 in the ES group. The matched OP + ES group had higher total postoperative complications than the ES group, especially more pulmonary infections (P = 0.001) and arrhythmias (P = 0.018), but no other postoperative complications were the difference. The DFS was similar and the OS was a significant difference between the matching 2 groups (log-rank, P = 0.132 and 0.04, respectively). Although pT 3/4 stage, pN (+), and tumor length > 3.0cm were independently associated with worse OS and DFS in multivariable analysis, CAD and EF < 55% were also found to be a predictive factor for OS and DFS in univariate analysis. OPCABG followed by esophagectomy for esophageal cancer associated with coronary artery disease has equivalent DFS and recurrence pattern to esophagectomy for esophageal cancer alone, but with a disadvantage in OS.

LBA47 Osimertinib as adjuvant therapy in patients (pts) with resected EGFR-mutated (EGFRm) stage IB-IIIA non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): Updated results from ADAURA

Osimertinib is a third-generation EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) that potently and selectively inhibits EGFR-TKI sensitising and EGFR T790M resistance mutations. It has efficacy in EGFRm NSCLC, including in central nervous system (CNS) metastases. In the Phase III ADAURA (NCT02511106) primary analysis adjuvant osimertinib showed a significant and clinically meaningful disease-free survival (DFS) benefit vs placebo (PBO) in pts with completely resected EGFRm (ex19del/L858R) NSCLC, ± adjuvant chemotherapy (CT): stage IIꟷIIIA DFS HR, 0.17; 99.06% CI, 0.11, 0.26; p<0.0001; stage IBꟷIIIA DFS HR, 0.20; 99.12% CI 0.14, 0.30; p<0.0001. We report updated exploratory analyses of DFS and recurrence patterns after 2 yrs added follow up. Eligible pts (aged ≥18 yrs [≥20 in Japan/Taiwan], WHO PS 0/1, completely resected EGFRm stage IBꟷIIIA [AJCC 7th edition] NSCLC; adjuvant CT allowed) were randomised 1:1 to osimertinib 80 mg once daily or PBO for up to 3 yrs. Primary endpoint: investigator-assessed DFS in stage IIꟷIIIA. Secondary endpoints: DFS in stage IBꟷIIIA, overall survival and safety. Patterns of recurrence and CNS DFS were pre-specified exploratory endpoints. Data cut-off: 11 April 2022. Globally, 682 pts were randomised; osimertinib n=339, PBO n=343. In this updated analysis, in pts with stage IIꟷIIIA disease DFS HR was 0.23 (95% CI 0.18, 0.30; 242/470 events; 51% maturity); 3-yr DFS rate was 84% with osimertinib vs 34% with PBO. In the overall population (stage IBꟷIIIA) DFS HR was 0.27 (95% CI 0.21, 0.34; 305/682 events); 3-yr DFS rate was 85% with osimertinib vs 44% with PBO. In the osimertinib arm, fewer pts experienced local/regional and distant recurrence vs PBO. CNS DFS HR was 0.24 (95% CI 0.14, 0.42; 63/470 events) in stage IIꟷIIIA. The long-term safety profile remains consistent with the known profile of osimertinib. With 2 yrs further follow-up, a continued DFS benefit was sustained with osimertinib vs PBO, consistent with the primary analysis. These mature data reinforce adjuvant osimertinib as standard of care for pts with EGFRm stage IB–‍IIIA NSCLC after complete tumour resection and adjuvant CT, when indicated.

Does Physical Activity Have an Impact on Recurrence Dynamics in Early Breast Cancer Patients?

Several studies have suggested that pre and/or postdiagnosis physical activity can reduce the risk of recurrence in breast cancer patients, however its effect according to follow-up time has not yet been investigated. We analyzed recurrence and mortality dynamics in randomized clinical trials (RCTs) from Australia and Canada. The combined Australian RCTs evaluated, at a median follow-up of 8.3 years, an 8-month pragmatic exercise intervention in 337 women with newly diagnosed breast cancer, while the Canadian RCT evaluated, at a median follow-up of 7.4 years, supervised aerobic or resistance exercise during chemotherapy in 242 patients. For each RCT, the control arm consisted of patients undergoing usual care. We estimated the event dynamics by the discrete hazard function, through flexible regression of yearly conditional event probabilities with generalized additive models. In the considered RCTs, the recurrence and mortality risk of patients enrolled in the physical activity arm were stably decreased at medium/long term after five year of follow-up. In the Australian RCTs where patients were recruited by urban versus rural area, the latter group did not display benefit from physical activity. Estimated odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for disease-free survival (DFS) in urban women were 0.63 (0.22–1.85); 0.27 (0.079–0.90); 0.11 (0.013–0.96) at the 3rd, 5th and 7th year of follow-up, respectively. For rural women, DFS patterns were overlapping with odds ratios (ORs), approximating 1 at the different years of follow-up. Although not reaching statistical evidence, the estimates in the Canadian trial were in line with the results from the Australian urban women with ORs (95% CI) for DFS of 0.70 (0.33–1.50); 0.47 (0.19–1.18); 0.32 (0.077–1.29) at 3rd, 5th, 7th follow-up year, respectively. While we acknowledge that the analyzed RCTs were not designed for investigating disease recurrence over time, these results support the evidence that physical activity reduces the risk of developing medium-/long-term metastases. Additional translational research is needed to clarify the mechanisms underlying these observations.

Multi-institutional development and validation of a nomogram to predict recurrence after curative resection of gastric neuroendocrine/mixed adenoneuroendocrine carcinoma.

To establish a novel nomogram to predict individual 1, 3, and 5 years disease-free survival (DFS) of patients with gastric neuroendocrine carcinoma/mixed adenoneuroendocrine carcinoma [(MA)NEC]. Among patients undergoing radical resection of gastric (MA)NEC, there is still a high tendency for relapse. A retrospective analysis of 777 patients with gastric (MA)NEC at 23 centers in China from 2004 to 2015 was performed. Based on the established nomogram, which included age, ASA, pT, pN and Ki67, the overall patients were divided into low-risk group (LRG) and high-risk group (HRG). The median follow-up time was 40months (1-169months). The C-index, AUC and time-ROC of the nomogram were significantly higher than that of the 8th edition AJCC and ENETS TNM staging systems. The 3-year DFS of patients in HRG generated by the nomogram was significantly lower than that in LRG (all patients: 35% vs 66.9%, p < 0.001), and there were still significant differences in stratified analysis of the TNM staging systems. The local recurrence rate (10.5% vs 2.6%) and distant recurrence rate (45.1% vs 22.6%) in HRG were significantly higher than those in LRG, especially in anastomotic recurrence (6.3% vs 2%), liver recurrence (20.7% vs 13.4%) and peritoneal metastasis (12.7% vs 2.6%). Compared with AJCC and ENETS TNM staging systems, the established novel validated nomogram had a significantly better prediction ability for DFS and recurrence patterns in patients with gastric (MA)NEC. It can also compensate for the shortcomings of existing AJCC and ENETS TNM staging in predicting individual recurrence risk.

Pancreatic body and tail cancer and favorable metastatic lymph node behavior on the left edge of the aorta

BackgroundLymph node (LN) metastasis in pancreatic body-tail cancer is a poor prognostic factor and the optimal LN dissection area for distal pancreatectomy (DP) remains unclear. Lymphatic flow from the tumors is thought to depend on the tumor sites. We examined LN metastasis frequency based on tumor site and recurrent patterns post-DP. MethodsWith a retrospective, single institutional study, we examined 100 patients who underwent DP as an upfront surgery for pancreatic cancer over 17 years. Tumor sites were classified as tumor confined to pancreatic body (and neck) (Pb(n)); and pancreatic tail (Pt). We compared metastatic LN and recurrence patterns based on tumor site. The median overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were analyzed. ResultsLN metastasis occurred in 59/100 (59.0%), with 23 and 25 tumors located in the Pb(n), and Pt, respectively. Those with the tumor in Pt had metastases to #10, #11d/p, and #18 LN mainly. However, the patients with the Pb(n) tumor had metastases to #8a/p, #11p, and #14p/d LN. There was no metastasis to #10 and #11d LN. The OS and DFS were 34 and 15 months, respectively. No significant difference was found in the OS, DFS, and recurrence patterns based on tumor sites. ConclusionDifferences in metastatic LN sites were observed in pancreatic body-tail cancer when tumors were confined to the left or right of the left aortic edge. Although it is necessary to validate this finding with a large-scale study, organ-preserving DP might be a treatment option for selected patients depending on the tumor sites.

Prevalence of delay to seeking medical attention in patients with synovial sarcoma and association with inferior outcomes.

e23556 Background: Synovial sarcoma is an aggressive soft tissue sarcoma that predominantly affects young patients with high rate of relapse and mortality. Systemic study of patients’ presenting symptoms and possible delay of seeking medical attention is lacking. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the electronic records of all patients diagnosed with synovial sarcoma from 2005 to 2016 within Kaiser Permanente Northern California to identify the pattern of presenting symptoms and its correlation with outcomes. Results: Of the 77 patients with synovial sarcoma, 64 had early stage disease and 13 had metastatic disease at diagnosis, with median age at diagnosis of 47 years. Anatomically, 48 patients had primary disease at the extremity, 12 trunk, and 17 visceral. Median duration of follow up is 40 months. The median time from symptom to first medical appointment (TTM) is 3 months (range 0.1 to 180 months). Nine out of 13 patients who presented with metastatic disease were visceral primary. For the 60 patients with an extremity/trunk primary, patients who presented with pain without a palpable mass had a median duration of TTM of 12 months, compared to the TTM of 3 months for patients who presented with a palpable mass. The relapse rate (RR) and disease-free survival (DFS) for patients with an extremity/trunk primary who presented with pain but without a palpable mass were significantly worse when compared to patients who presented with a palpable mass (RR 50% vs. 26.5%, and DFS 27 vs. 42.5 months, p &lt; 0.005). TTM was inversely correlated with DFS for the 64 cases with early stage disease and for the 60 cases with extremity/trunk primary (p &lt; 0.00000001). Of the 11 patients with a foot primary, a similar pattern of TTM and DFS was also observed. Conclusions: Patients with synovial sarcoma who presented with pain but without a palpable mass had longer TTM, worse DFS and higher RR compared to patients who presented with a palpable mass. Longer TTM was associated with worse DFS.

RA10.05: CHEMORADIOTHERAPY IMPROVES LOCO-REGIONAL CONTROL AND DISEASE-FREE SURVIVAL OVER CHEMOTHERAPY IN OESOPHAGEAL ADENOCARCINOMA WITH SIGNET RING MORPHOLOGY

Abstract Background The presence of signet ring cells (SRC) is associated with poorer survival in multiple cancer types. Here we aimed to determine the predictive and prognostic value of SRC in oesophageal and junctional adenocarcinoma (OAC) for patients treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) or chemotherapy (nCT). Methods Patients who underwent nCRT and nCT followed by surgery for OAC between 2000 and 2016 were identified from two institutional prospective databases. Pre-treatment biopsy and surgical resection pathology reports were used to determine the presence of SRC morphology. The association between SRC histology and clinicopathological characteristics including pathological response was assessed. The prognostic impact of SRC on disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) was determined. Survival was calculated with Kaplan Meier method and differences tested with log rank test. Results Of the 689 study patients, 129 had SRC (nCRT; n = 65, nCT; n = 64) and 560 patients had no evidence of SRC (nCRT; n = 326, nCT; n = 234). The SRC group had higher pT stage (P = 0.004) and median number of involved nodes (P = 0.004) following nCT compared with the non-SRC group. There were no significant differences between the two groups with respect to age, gender, tumour site, pN, R status or pathological complete response. For the 129 in the SRC group, nCT patients had significantly worse DFS (median [IQR]; 12 months [50–5]) compared with nCRT patients (median [IQR]; 26 months [111–9], P = 0.021). Moreover, nCT had a worse loco-regional recurrence-free survival (P = 0.004), but not distant recurrence-free survival (P = 0.74), in the SRC group. In contrast, there were no differences in DFS (P = 0.245) or recurrence patterns between nCRT and nCT among the 560 non-SRC patients. However, there was no significant difference in OS according to SRC status following nCT (P = 0.076) or nCRT (P = 0.541). Conclusion For SRC OAC, nCRT is associated with better DFS and loco-regional control compared with nCT. However, the presence of SRC in OAC was not prognostic for OS following nCT or nCRT. Disclosure All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.

Association of tumor size and focality with recurrence/persistence in papillary thyroid cancer patients treated with total thyroidectomy along with radioactive-iodine ablation and TSH suppression.

Locoregional recurrence is common in papillary thyroid cancer PTC and an optimal surgical treatment with respect to the multifocal nature of the disease stays controversial. It is a retrospective analytical study design. 209 diagnosed PTCs managed at our institute were grouped into macro-PTC with a size of dominant focus >1cm (unifocal n=106 and multifocal n=64) and micro-PTMC if size of all foci was <1cm; (unifocal n=16 and multifocal PTMC n=23). The primary endpoint is recurrence and tumor free survival in each of the four groups. Secondary endpoint is an assessment of a benefit of completion total thyroidectomy in terms of assignment of true focal status to an individual's PTC. The median follow-up was 4.1years. Upon completion thyroidectomy, the tumor focality changed to multifocal in 31.4% of macro-PTC and 60% of micro-PTMC. Multifocality was an independent risk factor for recurrence, OR 2.41 for macro (CI 1.14-5.11), and 3.48 for micro-multifocal PTMC (CI 1.19-10.2). Disease free survival patterns on Kaplan-Meier's plots were alike for micro- and macro-unifocal groups, and similarly stayed comparable among the two multifocal groups. Our analysis showed that tumor multifocality rather than size is the significant factor determining prognosis; hence, total thyroidectomy is indicated for an optimal assessment of true focality in micro-PTC.

Can neck irradiation be an alternative to neck dissection in early stage carcinoma oral tongue operated for primary alone? Experience from a single institute

Purpose: To study pattern of failure, locoregional control rates (LCR) and disease free survival (DFS) in post-operative patients of carcinoma oral tongue, and to study the impact of nodal dissection on DFS in stage I and II patients. Methods: 102 patients of carcinoma oral tongue treated between January 2009 and December 2013 were analyzed. All patients were operated for primary disease, but neck dissection was done in 78 (76.5%) patients only. However, radiation to primary site along with neck region was received by all patients. Pattern of failure, LCR and DFS were estimated. Results: At median follow up of 12 months, 10.8% patients failed locally, 10.8% in nodal region, 2.9% both at local and nodal site, and 5.9% patients failed distally. 2 year LCR and DFS was 71.2%, 90.9%, 79.5%, 0% and 55.2%, 64.4%, 57.8%, 0% in stage I, II, III, IV respectively. 2 year DFS in stage I patients, who underwent nodal dissection and post-operative radiation (14 patients) was 64.3% and in whom only neck irradiation was done (15 patients), it was 45.8%, however difference was not significant ( p = 0.5). But in stage II patients, 33 patients who underwent nodal dissection and post-operative radiation, 2 year DFS was 85.4% and it was 21.4% in 7 patients who underwent neck radiation only, and difference showed trend towards significance ( p = 0.05). 2 or more positive lymph nodes post dissection was the only poor prognostic factor that correlated with DFS ( p = 0.02) Conclusion: While in stage I, neck irradiation alone can be a possible alternative to neck dissection and post-operative radiation; for stage II, neck dissection is mandatory.

Effect of lymphangiogenesis and lymphovascular invasion on the survival pattern of breast cancer patients.

Invasion of breast cancer cells into blood and lymphatic vessels is one of the most important steps for metastasis. In this study the prognostic relevance of lymphangiogenesis and lymphovascular invasion (LVI) in breast cancer patients was evaluated in terms of survival. This retrospective study concerned 518 breast cancer patients who were treated at Department of Surgical Oncology, Saroj Gupta Cancer Centre and Research Institute, Kolkata-700063, West Bengal, India, a reputed cancer centre and research institute of eastern India between January 2006 and December 2007. The median overall survival and disease free survival of the patients were 60 months and 54 months respectively. As per Log-rank test, poor overall as well as disease free survival pattern was observed for LVI positive patients as compared with LVI negative patients (p<0.01). Also poor overall as well as disease free survival pattern was observed for perineural invasion (PNI) positive patients as compared to PNI negative patients (p<0.01). From this study it is evident that LVI and PNI are strongly associated with outcome in terms of disease free as well as overall survival in breast cancer patients. Thus LVI and PNI constitute potential targets for treatment of breast cancer patients. We advocate incorporating their status into breast cancer staging systems.

Disease-free survival pattern in breast cancer patients in India treated in a single institution.

e12030 Background: This study elucidates data from a 5 year retrospective study evaluating survival rates and prognostic factors in breast carcinoma patients in a private cancer set up in south India. Methods: 1046 patients who were treated between years 2003 to 2008 were analyzed. Clinical data including stage, histopathology type, age, node positivity, treatment plan, chemotherapy regimen, ER/ PR and Her2 Neu status, type of surgery etc were abstracted in a database. Five year disease free survival, local failure free survival and distant failure free survival was calculated using Kaplan Meier survival curves. Log rank mantel hazel tests were used to compare two survival curves. Results: Local recurrence was seen in 4% and distant metastases in 22% of the study sample. 62% of patients presented with early breast cancer (AJCC Stage I, II and IIIA). 85.6% of early and 73.1% of locally advanced breast cancers were disease free at 5 years (p&lt;0.001).90.6% of early and 82.4% of locally advanced breast cancers had distant failure free survival at 5 years (p=0.001). Local failure free survival was 96.1% in both early and locally advanced breast disease at 5 years.94.9% of her 2 negative and 83.5% Her 2 positive were disease free at 5 years (p=0.001). 5 years progression free survival was 91.5% for breast conservation surgery vs 84.1% for mastectomy with axillary clearance (p=0.01). 75.4% with triple negative status and 80.8% non triple negative receptor status had 5 years DFS. Conclusion: This is a first report of survival patterns of breast cancer patients treated in a single centre in India. High early stage patient numbers and high median disease free survival times could be because of improvement in screening and treatment of breast cancer in a developing country like India.

P3-13-08: Survival Analysis and Recurrence Patterns in Locally Advanced Breast Cancer Following Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy and Preoperative Concurrent Chemo Radiotherapy.

Abstract Introduction: Although not widely used, preoperative concurrent chemo radiotherapy (CCRth) following poor response to neo adjuvant chemotherapy (CT) has been recently associated with an improved prognosis in patients with locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) and high recurrence risk, showing acceptable toxicity profiles, acceptable post surgical complication rates and increases in both clinical and pathologic response rates and local control rates. The objective of this study was to assess disease free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS) and patterns of recurrence in a cohort of patients with LABC treated with pre operative CCRth following poor response to neo adjuvant CT. Methods: This longitudinal study included a total of 287 patients with LABC treated with pre operative CCRth following poor response to neo adjuvant CT between February 2000 and December 2002. Demographic, clinical/pathologic, therapeutic and follow up data were collected from patient charts to determine DFS, OS and recurrence patterns. Results: Stages IIB, IIIA and IIIB accounted for 22.3, 37.6 and 40% of the population, respectively. Clinical response rates compared to pathologic response rates following anthracyline based CT and CCRth were minimal or stable in 16% vs 62.4%, partial in 53 vs 76.3% and complete in 30 vs 23.3%. No significant treatment related toxicities were identified. Post surgical complications included flap ischemia in 16%, partial flap necrosis in 18%, both ischemia and partial flap necrosis in 13.2% and partial wound dehiscence in 7.7%. With an average follow up of 64.1 ± 37.2 months, (0-126.3 months), 36.9% of the population relapsed and 55.1% remained disease free. With regard to recurrence patterns, 22.6% presented loco regional relapse, 67.7% recurred at a distant site and 9.8% showed presented both. Median OS was 64.2 months (0-126 months). Five and ten year survival probability was shown to be 75% and 60%, respectively. Conclusions Despite improvements in local control rates and overall outcomes with current therapeutic regimens combining chemotherapy, surgery, and radiotherapy, 30 to 40% of patients with locally advanced breast cancer develop post treatment loco regional recurrence and 5 year overall survival remains low (50%). Multimodal treatment integrating pre operative CCRth is therefore a valid alternative in the LABC setting, showing promising results in regard to OS, DFS and recurrence rates. Prospective clinical studies to evaluate its use are warranted. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2011;71(24 Suppl):Abstract nr P3-13-08.

En Bloc Resection for Primary and Metastatic Tumors of the Spine

The efficacy of en bloc resection for spinal tumors is unknown because most of the current evidence is provided by small, single-institution clinical series or case reports. To combine all previously published reports of en bloc resection for primary and metastatic spinal tumors, to describe the overall pattern of disease-free survival, and to investigate potentially prognostic factors for recurrence. A complete MEDLINE search for all articles reporting survival data for en bloc resection of spinal tumors was undertaken; 44 articles met inclusion criteria from which 306 eligible patients were identified. There were 229 cases of primary tumors with a mean follow-up of 65.0 months and 77 cases of solitary metastatic tumors with a mean follow-up of 26.5 months. Median time to recurrence was 113 months for the primary group and 24 months for the metastatic group. Disease-free survival rates at 1, 5, and 10 years were 92.6%, 63.2%, and 43.9%, respectively, for the primary group and 61.8%, 37.5%, and 0%, respectively, for the metastatic group; 5-year disease-free survival rates were 58.4% for chordoma and 62.9% for chondrosarcoma. After adjusting for covariates, age, male sex, metastatic tumors, and osteosarcomas were significantly associated with a tumor recurrence. This study provides the largest published series of patients undergoing en bloc resection for spinal tumors. Median time to recurrence reached almost 10 years in patients with primary tumors; however, it was only 2 years in those with isolated metastatic tumors.

Distinct Clinical and Prognostic Features of Invasive Lobular Breast Cancer

When in the early 1940s pathologists started to subcategorize breast carcinomas based on their histology the key development of subdividing breast cancer into different diseases began [9]. About 60 years later distinguishing various breast cancer subtypes has become a major focus of research at the level of genomic structure and gene expression [2,15,32]. Invasive lobular carcinoma is the second most frequent histological type of breast carcinoma, found in about 5– 15% of patients [1,24,25]. Based on estimations of the World health organization 100.000 – 150.000 new cases per year of invasive lobular carcinoma are diagnosed worldwide. The analyses of large patient series have uncovered distinct clinical features for infiltrating lobular (ILC) and infiltrating ductal (IDC) breast carcinoma. In addition, the most recent studies with long term follow-up suggest that ILC and IDC also differ in their pattern of disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). Here we review newer findings and discuss possible implications of this knowledge for clinical practice and research in breast cancer.

Expression of fatty acid synthase (FAS) as a predictor of recurrence in stage I breast carcinoma patients.

Fatty acid synthase (FAS) is a molecule found in tumor cells from breast carcinomas of patients whose prognosis is very poor. Recently, this molecule has been identified as the key enzyme in fatty acid biosynthesis. This study was done to test the strength of FAS as a prognostic indicator for disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). Clinical records, histologic features, immunohistochemical expression of cathepsin D and c-erbB-2, and estrogen and progesterone receptor status of 110 Stage I breast carcinoma patients were all associated with FAS by a chi-square test. The patterns of DFS and OS were estimated over a ten-year follow-up period using the Kaplan-Meier method. Univariate and multivariate analysis were evaluated using a log logistic regression model. Multivariate regression analysis was based on the Cox proportional hazard model. To detect FAS, cathepsin D and c-erbB-2 expression as well as estrogen and progesterone receptor status, we used the unlabeled immunoperoxidase technique on formalin fixed, paraffin embedded tissue. FAS was significantly associated with a higher risk of recurrence because it predicted both DFS (P = 0.0001) and OS (P = 0.003) when evaluated as a continuous variable and DFS (P = 0.0001) when evaluated with other prognostic markers. Peritumoral lymphatic vessel invasion was the other most significant independent predictor for DFS (P = 0.001) and OS (P = 0.003). FAS is a reliable prognostic marker to predict DFS and OS in patients with early breast cancer.

5-drug adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer

A series of 41 patients at the MGH who received 5-drug chemotherapy, cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, 5-fluorouracil, vincristine and prednisone, (CMF VP) as adjuvant to surgical treatment of operable breast cancer with 4 or more positive axillary nodes is compared to an analogous group of patients treated with cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and 5-fluorouracil (CMF) reported by Bonadonna et al. in an effort to assess the contribution of the treatment program to disease control. The MGH pattern of disease free survival closely parallels that of Bonadonna. Median disease-free survival among the 24 patients who have not recurred is 27 months; among those who recurred 18 months. The analogous medians for treated patients in the Bonadonna study are 24 months and 16 months, as compared to 27 months and 8 months for his nontreated controls. The treatment program, carried out over a two year period, was well tolerated with excellent patient compliance. There was no significant impact, however, in the disease-free survival of postmenopausal patients. While use of this regimen improved disease-free survival in premenopausal individuals, it is clear that a great deal of room for improvement exists, and newer regimens should be investigated.