Adjuvant systemic treatment of resectable breast cancer: eleven years results of a monoinstitutional chemo-hormone-immunotherapy trial

• Published in: Anticancer research Vol. 9; no. 4; p. 1153
• Main Authors: Rosso, R, Boccardo, F, Brema, F, Sertoli, M R, Amoroso, D, Bertelli, G, Pronzato, P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Greece 01-07-1989
• Subjects: Age Factors; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - therapeutic use; Biomarkers, Tumor - analysis; Breast Neoplasms - drug therapy; Breast Neoplasms - surgery; Breast Neoplasms - therapy; Combined Modality Therapy; Cyclophosphamide - administration & dosage; Female; Fluorouracil - administration & dosage; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Immunotherapy; Levamisole - therapeutic use; Lymphatic Metastasis; Menopause; Methotrexate - administration & dosage; Middle Aged; Receptors, Estrogen - analysis; Receptors, Progesterone - analysis; Tamoxifen - therapeutic use; Vincristine - administration & dosage
• ISSN: 0250-7005

131 patients with resectable, node-positive breast cancer were treated at the National Institute for Cancer Research of Genoa, Italy with a systemic adjuvant regimen based on 14 cycles of chemotherapy, immunostimulation with levamisole, and--for postmenopausal patients--hormone therapy with tamoxifen. The present evaluation is performed eleven years after the admission of the first patient: so far, 75 patients (57.3%) have relapsed and 52 (39.7%) have died. An analysis of prognostic factors for relapse and death shows that the number of positive axillary lymph nodes and the dimension of the primary tumor are significantly associated with survival and relapse-free survival, while age and menopausal status are not.