Open AccessThe Randomized Trials of Dose‐Intensive Therapy for Breast Cancer: What Do They Mean for Patient Care and Where Do We Go From Here?
Author(s) -
Weiss Raymond B.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
the oncologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.176
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1549-490X
pISSN - 1083-7159
DOI - 10.1634/theoncologist.4-6-450
Subject(s) - medicine , breast cancer , randomized controlled trial , clinical trial , clinical oncology , malignancy , cancer , intensive care medicine , disease , oncology
At the May 1999 meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), results of some of the randomized trials conducted in the 1990s assessing the value of high‐dose (dose‐intensive) therapy for breast cancer were presented. The number of women treated with such therapy has grown almost exponentially since the early 1990s so that breast cancer is now the most common malignancy treated with stem cell transplant. At the same time the cost of such treatment (from $60,000 upwards to $150,000) has caused it to become the most controversial issue in all of medical oncology during this past decade. Does such therapy truly provide a benefit to women with breast cancer, and is it therefore a therapy that should be routinely offered to suitable patients? This article will attempt to put this issue in some perspective with emphasis on the recently reported randomized studies of this treatment for both early‐stage and metastatic disease. In addition, some comments will be made regarding where research regarding this topic will likely be focused in the next few years.