To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: DG DISPATCH - ECCO: New Drug Combination Enhances Treatment For Advanced Breast Cancer URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/12C452.htm Doctor's Guide September 16, 1999
By David Loshak Special to DG News
VIENNA, AUSTRIA -- September 16, 1999 -- Women with advanced breast cancer treated with a new combination therapy, Taxol plus doxorubicin, take significantly longer to develop metastases and live longer, according to the results of a new clinical trial presented at the 10th European Conference on Clinical Oncology (ECCO), in Vienna, Austria.
The combination is an important first-line treatment against metastatic breast cancer and warrants immediate further development, according to Dr. Jacek Jassem, professor of clinical oncology at the Medical University of Gdansk, in Gdansk, Poland.
The study enrolled 267 women at 29 centres in eastern Europe and Israel. Patients were randomised into two groups - one received the standard FAC chemotherapy cocktail (5-fluorouracil, doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide) while the other received the Taxol-doxorubicin combination.
The median time to progression was more than two months longer in the combination group - 8.3 versus 6.2.
Their overall (complete plus partial) clinical response rate was 68 percent, compared with 55 percent in the standard treatment cohort. Twice as many combination patients achieved complete response than those on standard treatment. Patients in the combination arm achieved a median survival of 22.7 months, 4.4 months longer than those who got FAC.
"This trial assessed efficacy in women who represent the real world of breast cancer patients," Dr. Jassem told a conference session.
"The trial has unequivocally shown that the Taxol/doxorubicin combination works better than the regimen which is regarded as standard first-line treatment for metastatic breast cancer around the world," Dr. Jassem concluded. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.