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Clinical course of patients with breast cancer with ten or more positive nodes who were treated with doxorubicin‐containing adjuvant therapy
Author(s) -
Buzdar Aman U.,
Kau ShuWan,
Hortobagyi Gabriel N.,
Ames Frederick C.,
Holmes Frankie A.,
Fraschini Giuseppe,
Hug Verena,
Theriault Richard L.,
McNeese Marsha D.,
Singletary S. Eva
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(19920115)69:2<448::aid-cncr2820690229>3.0.co;2-k
Subject(s) - medicine , breast cancer , doxorubicin , adjuvant , adjuvant therapy , natural history , disease , clinical trial , oncology , chemotherapy , cancer , surgery , prospective cohort study , stage (stratigraphy) , survival rate , paleontology , biology
Between 1974 and 1986, 283 patients with ten or more positive nodes were treated in four prospective trials using doxorubicin‐containing adjuvant chemotherapy. At a median follow‐up of 92 months, 182 patients had had a recurrence, and 158 died. An estimated 41% and 37% were disease‐free at 5 and 7 years, respectively. Patients with ten positive nodes had a significantly better disease‐free survival than those with more than ten such nodes ( P = 0.04). The disease‐free survival rate and overall survival rate were not influenced by the estrogen receptor status of the tumor, patient age, or disease stage. Long‐term data on a large number of patients treated at this institute showed the natural history of this subgroup of patients. Approximately 30% of patient survived disease‐free at 10 years after treatment with the systemic therapies used in these protocols. Newer approaches are needed to alter the prognosis of this subgroup of patients further.