Clinical Contrast Study On Dose Dense And Regular Chemotherapy In The Postoperative Adjuvant Treatment For Breast Cancer

ObjectiveTo investigate efficacy and tolerance of dose dense chemotherapy with epirubicin and paclitaxel concurrently or sequentially in the postoperative adjuvant treatment for high-risk breast cancer,and to draw a basic conclusion by comparing dose dense regimen with the regular one.Methods173 high-risk breast cancer patients took part in the trial from Dec. 2003 to Dec.2006.The patients with Lymph node positive accounted for 77.5%,the others were high-risk lymph node negative ones,the postoperative patients were randomly divided into three groups:EC→T dose dense group,ET dose dense group and ET regular group. Results168 patients completed chemotherapy as planed.After the median follow-up of 36 months,the relapse-free and overall survival rates of dose dense group and regular group were 84.1%and 80.0%(P=0.501), 95.6%and 90.0%(P=0.153) respectively;the relapse-free and overall survival rates of EC→T and ET dose dense group were 85.7%and 82.5 %(P=0.636),92.9%and 98.2%(P=0.164).The toxicities could be evaluated in 173 patients.The major gradeⅢ-Ⅳtoxicities included: neutropenia,nausea,vomiting,hepatic lesion and alopecia.When comparing the dose dense group with the regular group,the incidence of gradeⅢ-Ⅳneutropenia was 14.2%versus 58.3%(P=0.000),other toxicities were similar;all toxicities were similar between EC→T and ET dose dense group.ConclusionDose dense chemotherapy,concurrently or sequentially with epirubicin and paclitaxel used in the adjuvant treatment for high-risk postoperative breast cancer,was safe and promising,had the trend of improving the DFS and OS.The side effects were tolerable and treatment time was shortened.