Alternating weekly doxorubicin and 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin followed by weekly doxorubicin and daily cyclophosphamide in stage IV breast cancer. A southwest oncology group study

A phase II study to test the toxicity and the efficacy of a weekly combination of Mitoxantrone, 5-Fluorouracil and L-Leucovorin (MFL) was carried out in 43 patients with metastatic breast cancer. Chemotherapy consisted of mitoxantrone 4 mg/m2, 5-fluorouracil 375 mg/m2, and L-leucovorin 100 mg/m2 on day 1, weekly. Patient characteristics were: median age 53 years (range 36-65); estrogen receptor (ER) status was known in 26 patients and of these 15 (57.7%) patients were ER-positive and 11 (42.3%) ER-negative. Of the 43 patients, 25 (58.1%) and 18 (41.9%) patients had received prior adjuvant chemotherapy and prior adjuvant endocrine treatment, respectively. MFL was administered to 22 (51.1%) patients as first line chemotherapy for advanced disease, while 21 (48.9%) patients had received 1 to 2 cytotoxic regimens for metastatic disease. The dominant sites of metastases were: soft tissue in 11 (25.5%) patients, bone in 8 (18.6%) patients and viscera in 24 (55.9%). All patients were assessable for toxicity: only 8 patients experienced WHO grade 3 leukopenia. Thrombocytopenia, diarrhea, stomatitis, and nausea/vomiting were negligible. Anemia and alopecia were not observed. Thirty-nine patients were assessable for response: overall response rate was 28.2% (complete response 7.7% and partial response 20.5%). Median duration of response was 12 months (range 6-34). Patients with no prior anthracyclines had a 42.1% response rate compared to 15% in patients who had received anthracyclines. Median overall survival of the 43 patients was 6 months (range 1-34). Weekly MFL is a well-tolerated and a moderately effective regimen for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer.

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‘Neo-FAC’ (5-Fluorouracil, Doxorubicin, and Cyclophosphamide) for Poor-Prognosis Stage IV Breast Cancer

Ellis¹,

Green²,

Livingston³

et al. 1999

American Journal of Clinical Oncology: Cancer Clinical Trials

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The authors report a phase II pilot investigation in the Southwest Oncology Group examining a combination of 5-fluorouracil, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide (FAC) incorporating modulated 5-FU in patients with poor-prognosis stage IV breast cancer. Patients with poor-prognosis stage IV breast cancer were treated with this "neo-FAC" as front-line therapy. The regimen consisted of 5-fluorouracil by continuous ambulatory infusion pump at 200 mg/m2/day for 42 days, repeated at 56-day intervals; doxorubicin at 20 mg/m2/week intravenously to a maximum cumulative total dose (including adjuvant therapy, if any) of 500 mg/m2; cyclophosphamide 60 mg/m2/day taken orally; methotrexate 15 mg/m2/week intravenously beginning 1 week after termination of doxorubicin; and oral prednisone decreasing from 60 mg/day on a tapering schedule for a total of 7 weeks of treatment. Treatment was continued until progression, unacceptable toxicity, or patient refusal. Twenty-four patients were accrued to this study. Of these, two were ineligible, and the remaining 22 were evaluable for response. Ten patients experienced grade 3 toxicity, and six had grade 4. There were no treatment-associated deaths. Best responses were a complete response in one patient (5%) and partial responses in 6, for an overall response rate of 32% (7/22 evaluable patients). Overall survival in five pilot studies in the Southwest Oncology Group in this poor-prognosis population are relatively superimposable. The present regimen, with its relatively poor outcome and the expense and inconvenience of administering chemotherapy by ambulatory infusion pump, will not be pursued further.

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Alternating weekly doxorubicin and 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin followed by weekly doxorubicin and daily cyclophosphamide in stage IV breast cancer. A southwest oncology group study

Cited by 3 publications

References 17 publications

Fluorouracil and Leucovorin in Advanced Breast Cancer

Fluorouracil and Leucovorin in Advanced Breast Cancer

Phase II study of weekly mitoxantrone, 5-fluorouracil, and leucovorin in metastatic breast cancer

‘Neo-FAC’ (5-Fluorouracil, Doxorubicin, and Cyclophosphamide) for Poor-Prognosis Stage IV Breast Cancer

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