147 stage II pre- and perimenopausal breast cancer patients were treated with cyclophosphamide-methotrexate-5-fluorouracil (CMF)- based adjuvant regimens. 103 (72%) patients became amenorrheic during or immediately after the end of the chemotherapy program. Univariate analyses for age, menstrual status, nodal involvement, grading, estrogen and progesterone receptor status indicated no correlation between induction of amenorrhea and a significant prolongation of overall and disease-free survival. Multivariate analyses confirmed that young age at diagnosis, increasing number of infiltrated nodes, negative progesterone receptor status and grade 3 tumors are associated with a worse prognosis. Our results suggest that no benefit is expected in women with drug induced amenorrhea after CMF adjuvant treatment.
We undertook this phase II study to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of epidoxorubicin and ifosfamide in the treatment of locally advanced and/or metastatic soft-tissue sarcomas. We used escalating doses of epidoxorubicin (from 60 to 75 mg/m2) on day 1 and 1.2 g/m2 ifosfamide on days 1-5. Chemotherapy courses were repeated every 3-4 weeks. A total of 16 patients--13 who had not previously been treated and 3 who had undergone prior therapy with anthracyclines--entered the study. In all, 15 patients were evaluable for response and 16, for toxicity. At least two courses of chemotherapy were given. A complete remission (CR) was seen in 1 patient, a partial remission (PR) in 5, and a minor response (MR) in 1, for an objective response rate (CR + PR) of 40% (6/15); this value reached 50% in non-pretreated patients (6/12). Stable disease (SD) was observed in 40% (6/15) of patients. The relative dose intensity of epidoxorubicin ranged from 10 to 23.3 mg/m2 (median, 16.6 mg/m2). The time to objective response ranged from 4 to 12 weeks (median, 8.5 weeks). The duration of response was 4 months for the single CR, and that for the five PRs was 6+ months (range, 4-18 months). Toxicity was evaluated according to WHO criteria in 16 patients; it was mild and consisted mainly of alopecia, nausea and vomiting, and leucopenia. In only three patients did we observe grade 3 leucopenia. In one case an ifosfamide-associated encephalopathy occurred, but it regressed after 24 h. Neither chronic nor acute cardiac toxicity was reported. In this preliminary analysis, the response rate obtained with the combination of epidoxorubicin and ifosfamide was encouraging and the toxicity was acceptable.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.