New Chemotherapy Combination Boosts Breast Cancer Survival

Women receiving chemotherapy for early stage breast cancer fared dramatically better when the chemotherapy drug epirubicin was added to a common three-drug mix, according to British researchers.

Dr. Chris Poole of the University of Birmingham, reporting at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, said a study of more than 2,000 women at 65 British hospitals showed that adding epirubicin to the treatment known as CMF reduced the risk of death from breast cancer by more than one-third.

CMF is a widely used combination of two chemotherapy drugs -- cyclophosphamide and 5 fluorouracil -- together with the antimetabolite methotrexate, which alters the body's use of folic acid needed for cell growth.

In the National Epirubicin Adjuvant Trial (NEAT), the researchers investigated the benefits of adding epirubicin to CMF. Over six months, half of the 2,000 volunteers were given four rounds of epirubicin and four of CMF. The remainder were given the conventional treatment of six rounds of CMF alone.

Over the trial recruitment period of five years, women treated with epirubicin were 36 percent less likely to die, and were 31 percent more likely to avoid any sign of return of breast cancer, the researchers reported.

"This particular trial has yielded a dramatic difference in survival," said Poole. "It is incredibly rare to get such a significant effect by using existing drugs in a slightly different way."

Other Sources: ASCO