Long-term
Follow-Up Confirms Superiority of TAC in Early Breast Cancer
According to results recently presented at the 2003 San Antonio
Breast Cancer Symposium, long-term follow-up of nearly 5 years
indicates that the chemotherapy combination TAC (Taxotere ®,
Adriamycin ®, cyclophosphamide) results in continued improvements
in cancer-free and overall survival compared to FAC (5-fluorouracil,
Adriamycin ®, cyclophosphamide) in early breast cancer.
Approximately 200,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer
annually in the United States alone. Long-term survival is
high among patients whose cancer has not spread from its site
of origin. The further from the site of origin the cancer
spreads, the worse survival rates become. Breast cancer is
still considered early cancer if it has only spread to lymph
nodes under the arms (axillary). Patients who have cancer
spread to the axillary nodes (node positive) are most often
offered chemotherapy as a component of their treatment regimen.
Researchers have been comparing different chemotherapy agents
and combinations and evaluating novel agents to improve survival
in this group of patients.
Researchers conducted a clinical trial directly comparing
the chemotherapy regimens TAC and FAC in the treatment of
nearly 1,500 patients with node-positive breast cancer. Historically,
FAC was a commonly used chemotherapy regimen. More recently,
Taxotere ®-based regimens have demonstrated significant
anti-cancer activity in the treatment of breast cancer. An
analysis of results of this trial at nearly 3 years following
therapy indicated that TAC was superior to FAC in regards
to cancer-free survival. A recent analysis of results of this
trial at 55 months following therapy has recently been completed
to determine long-term outcomes between these 2 regimens.
Cancer-free survival rates for patients at 4 and 5 years following
therapy were 80% and 75%, respectively for those treated with
TAC, compared to 71% and 68% for those treated with FAC. Overall
survival rates at approximately 4 and 5 years following therapy
were 89% and 87%, respectively for those treated with TAC,
and 85% and 81%, respectively for those treated with FAC.
The researchers concluded that the chemotherapy regimen TAC
improves long-term cancer-free and overall survival compared
to FAC in the treatment of node-positive breast cancer. From
these and other results, the chemotherapy regimen TAC appears
to be one of the most active regimens in the treatment of
breast cancer. Patients with breast cancer who are to receive
chemotherapy may wish to speak with their physician about
the risks and benefits of treatment with TAC.
Reference: Mackey J, Martin M, Pienkowski T, et al. TAC improves
disease free survival and overall survival over FAC in node
positive early breast cancer patients, BCIRG 001: 55 months
follow-up. Proceedings from the 26th annual San Antonio Breast
Cancer Symposium. December 2003. Abstract # 43.
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