Summary
From June 1986 to December 1988, 107 patients (median age, 49 years; median performance score, 1) with haematogeneous metastases from breast carcinoma were treated with concomitant radiation and chemotherapy. Overall, 97% of the patients had been pretreated with surgery; 65%, with radiation; and 56%, with hormones. In all, 38% had received adjuvant chemotherapy. Patients with prior palliative chemotherapy were excluded from the study. All patients fulfilled at least two high-risk criteria. Chemotherapy was given according to the EI protocol (4-epirubicin and ifosfamide), and all patients simultaneously received radiation to the main tumor sites. Gastro-intestinal toxicity was moderate (11.1%, WHO grade 4), and bone marrow depression was marked in all cases. After three treatment courses, the overall response rate was 67% [21% complete response (CR), 46% partial response (PR)]. In all, 28% had stable disease (NC) and the rate of progressive disease (PD) was 5%. The median duration of tumour response was 8 months, with 12 months for CRs, 9 months for PRs and 6 months for NCs. The median survival was 13.5 months.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ammon J, Karstens JH, Katsholi D (1988) Simultane Strahlen- und Chemotherapie beim Schilddrüsenkarzinom. Tumor diagn Ther 9, [Sonderh]:18–20
Bartels H (1985) Chemotherapie beim Mammakarzinom. In: Schildberg FW, Kiffner E (eds) Interdisziplinäre Therapie des Mammakarzinoms. Perimed, Erlangen, pp 214–220
Bastert G (1983) Aktueller Stand der Therapie des Mamma-Karzinoms. Therapiewoche 33:6747
Blumenberg FW, Scheef W (1969) Hochdosierte Cyclophosphamid-Behandlung in Kombination mit Strahlentherapie bei Patienten mit fortgeschrittenen Tumorerkrankungen. Med Welt 20:2024
Brock N, Hoefer-Janker H, Hohorst HJ, Scheef W, Schneider B, Wolf HC (1973) Die Aktivierung von Ifosfamid an Mensch und Tier. Arzneim-Forsch 23:1
Druckrey H, Steinhoff W, Nakayama M, Preussmann R, Anger K (1963) Experinentelle Beiträge zum Dosis-Problem in der Krebs-Chemotherapy und zur Wirkungsweise von Endoxan. Dtsch Med Wochenschr 88:651
Dühmke E (1984) Cisplatin und Radiotherpaie. Zentralbl Radiol 128:133
Frei E III, Canelos GP (1980) Dose: a critical factor in cancer chemotherapy. Am J Med 69:585–594
Fritze D (1986) Medikamentöse Krebsbehandlung. Steinkopf, Darmstadt, pp 284–293
Harris JR, Hellmann S, Canellos GP, Fisher B (1985) Cancer of the breast. In: De Vita VT, Hellmann S, Rosenberg SA (eds) Cancer. Principles and practice of oncology. Lippencott, Philadelphia, pp 1119–1177
Hoefer-Janker H, Scheef W (1973) Kombinierte radiologisch-zytostatische Behandlung mit Ifosfamid bei generalisierten malignen Hodentumoren. Röntgen Ber 2:186
Hoogstraaten B, Fabian C (1979) A reappraisel of single drugs in advanced breast cancer. Cancer Clin Trials 2:101–109
Hryniuk W, Bush H (1984) The importance of dose intensity in chemotherapy of metastatie breast cancer. J Clin Oncol 11:1281
Lange OF (1987) Behandlung des fortgeschrittenen metastasierten Mammakarzinoms. MMW 129:361–364
Lange OF, Schlechtingen J, Heckmann M, Abresch HL (1985) Kombinierte Strahlen- und zytostatische Chemotherapie primär inoperabler und rezidivierender maligner Tumoren im HNO-Bereich. Tumordiagn Ther 6:234–237
Nagel GA, Beyer HJ, Holtkamp W, Emrich D, Kneba M, Luig H, Marschner N, Rauschning W, Unger C, Wander HE (1988) High dose epirubicin+cyclophosphamide (HD-EC) in metastatic breast cancer: a dose finding study. Short communication. Onkologie 11: 287–288
Nagel GA, Rauschning W, Ammon A, Beyer JH, Emrich D, Holtkamp W, Kneba M, Luig H, Marschner N, Unger C (1988) High-Dose epirubicin+cyclophosphamide (HD-EC) in metastatic breast cancer: preliminary data of a phase II study. Short communication. Oncologie 11:289–291
Pape H, Zamboglou N, Fürst G, Schmitt G (1988) Simultane Strahlen- und Chemotherapie bei undifferenzierten Weichteilsarkomen. Tumordiagn Ther 9: [Sonderh]:31–34
Schmitt G, Arndt D, Hossfeldt KD (1984) Kombinierte Therapie bei Tumoren des Erwachsenen. Zentralbl Radiol 128:133
Schmitt G, Heuser L, Schmidt C (1984) Bestrahlung, Cis-Platin-Sensibilisierung und Operation bei der Behandlung fortgeschrittener Kopf-Halstumoren. Zentralbl Radiol 128:134
Schmoll HJ, Fink U (1987) Mammakarzinom. In: Schmoll HJ, Peters HD, Fink U (eds) Kompendium internistischer Onkologie, Teil 2. Springer, Berlin, p 1240
Seeber S (1985) Chemotherapieresistenz beim Mammakarzinom. In: Herfarth CH, Betzler M (eds) Das Mammakarzinom. Karger, Basel, pp 102–111 (Beiträge zur Onkologie)
Steel GG (1984) Radiotherapy/chemotherapy interactions. Zentralbl Radiol 128:131
Wander HE, Nagel GA (1986) Mammakarzinome 4. Zuckschwerdt, München
Salmon SE, Jones SE (1979) Untersuchungen der Kombination Adriamycin und Cyclophosphamid (allein oder mit anderen Substanzen) zur Behandlung des Mammakarzinoms. Onkologie Sonderdruck 2
Zamboglou N, Schmidt C, Pape H, Fürst G, Schmitt G (1988) Aspekte der kombinierten Radio- und Chemotherapie bei fortgeschrittenen Kopf-Hals-Tumoren. Tumordiagn Ther 9 [Sonderh]b35–40
WHO (1979) Handbook for reporting results of cancer treatment. WHO Offset Publication 48. World Health Organisation, Geneva
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lange, O.F., Scheef, W., Haase, K.D. et al. Palliative chemo-radiotherapy with ifosfamide and epirubicin as first-line treatment for high-risk metastatic breast cancer. Cancer Chemother. Pharmacol. 26 (Suppl 1), S74–S77 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00685427
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00685427