Abstract
Background
The psychological difficulty of accepting a mastectomy for locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) justifies the use of chemotherapy as neoadjuvant primary treatment. The aim of this prospective study was to assess the efficacy of the doxorubicin/paclitaxel (AT) schedule neoadjuvantly administered in terms of response rates and survival in patients with LABC, with a special focus on cardiac toxicity.
Patients and method
All patients were treated by doxorubicin (60 mg/m2 i.v.) bolus followed by paclitaxel (200 mg/m2) as a 3-h infusion. Treatment was repeated every 3 weeks for four or six courses and followed by surgery, radiotherapy, and hormonotherapy for patients with positive hormonal receptors. Patients with significant cardiovascular history or ECG abnormalities were not eligible for the study. Measurements of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) were performed at baseline and at the end of chemotherapy.
Results
From 1998 to 2001, 34 consecutive patients followed up in our institution were entered into this study. Median age was 49 years (range, 32–68 years). Seventeen patients had stage IIB, 5 patients stage IIIA, and 12 patients stage IIIB disease. Twenty-one patients underwent conservative surgery, 7 radical surgery, and 6 patients no surgery due to metastatic disease occurring during treatment. An objective clinical response was noted in 22 (65%) of 34 patients (6 patients with histological complete response, 10 patients with rare malignant cells, and 6 patients with a partial response), 6 patients presented a progressive disease, and 8 patients a stable disease. Twenty-four patients have kept normal cardiac function, 7 patients had a cardiac toxicity as defined by the institution [4 (24%) of 17 patients received 360 mg/m2 of doxorubicin (A), 2 of 4 presented congestive heart failure (CHF), and 3 (21%) of 14 patients received 240 mg/m2 of A without CHF]. Three patients did not receive four or six cycles as initially planned due to the progressive disease during the chemotherapy courses. These patients were excluded from the final analysis, particularly cardiac toxicity analysis. At time of median follow-up (42 months), 28 of 34 patients were alive (one death due to CHF, five others due to progressive disease).
Conclusion
The AT regimen in neoadjuvant treatment for LABC remains efficient, but cardiac toxicity reported in this study underlies the necessity to optimize the schedule of AT combination.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Botha JL, Bray F, Sankila R, Parkin DM (2003) Breast cancer incidence and mortality trends in 16 European countries. Eur J Cancer 39:1718–1729
Smith IC, Miller ID (2001) Issues involved in research into the neoadjuvant treatment of breast cancer. Anti-cancer Drugs 12:25–29
Jones AL, Smith IE, O’Brien ME et al (1994) Phase II study of continuous infusion fluorouracil with epirubicin and cisplatin in patients with metastatic and locally advanced breast cancer: an active new regimen. J Clin Oncol 12:1259–1265
Powles TJ, Hickish TF, Makris A et al (1995) Randomized trial of chemoendocrine therapy started before or after surgery for treatment of primary breast cancer. J Clin Oncol 13:547–552
Kaufmann M, von Minckwitz G, Smith R et al (2003) International expert panel on the use of primary (preoperative) systemic treatment of operable breast cancer: review and recommendations. J Clin Oncol 21:2600–2608
Bonadonna G, Valagussa P, Brambilla C et al (1998) Primary chemotherapy in operable breast cancer: eight-year experience at the Milan Cancer Institute. J Clin Oncol 16:93–100
Fisher B, Bryant J, Wolmark N et al (1998) Effect of preoperative chemotherapy on the outcome of women with operable breast cancer. J Clin Oncol 16:2672–2685
Wolmark N, Wang J, Mamounas E, Bryant J, Fisher B (2001) Preoperative chemotherapy in patients with operable breast cancer: nine-year results from National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project B-18. J Natl Cancer Inst Monographs 30:96–102
Dombernowsky P, Gehl J, Boesgaard M et al (1996) Doxorubicin and paclitaxel, a highly active combination in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. Semin Oncol 23:23–27
Jassem J, Pienkowski T, Pluzanska A et al (2001) Doxorubicin and paclitaxel versus fluorouracil, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide as first-line therapy for women with metastatic breast cancer: final results of a randomized phase III multicenter trial. J Clin Oncol 19:1707–1715
Mamounas EP, Sledge GW Jr (2001) Combined anthracycline–taxane regimens in the adjuvant setting. Semin Oncol 28:24–31
Hortobagyi G, Willey J, Rahman Z et al (1997) Prospective assessment of cardiac toxicity during a randomized phase II trial of doxorubicin and paclitaxel in metastatic breast cancer. Semin Oncol 24:S17–S68
Gianni L, Munzone E, Capri G et al (1995) Paclitaxel by 3-hour infusion in combination with bolus doxorubicin in women with untreated metastatic breast cancer. High antitumor efficacy and cardiac effects in a dose-finding and sequence-finding study. J Clin Oncol 13:2688–2699
Martin M, Lluch A, Ojeda B et al (1997) Paclitaxel plus doxorubicin in metastatic breast cancer preliminary analysis cardiotoxicity. Semin Oncol 24:17–26
Giordano SH, Booser DJ, Murray JL et al (2002) A detailed evaluation of cardiac toxicity: a phase II study of doxorubicin and one- or three-hour-infusion paclitaxel in patients with metastatic breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res 8:3360–3368
Nabholtz JMA (2003) Docetaxel–anthracycline combinations in metastatic breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat 79:3–9
Amat S, Bougnoux P, Penault-Llorca F et al (2003) Neoadjuvant docetaxel for operable breast cancer induces a high pathological response and breast-conservation rate. Br J Cancer 88:1339–1345
Ganem G, Tubiana-Hulin M, Fumoleau P et al (2003) Phase II trial combining docetaxel and doxorubicin as neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with operable breast cancer. Ann Oncol 14:1623–1628
Pierga JY, Mouret E, Laurence V et al (2003) Prognostic factors for survival after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in operable breast cancer: the role of clinical response. Eur J Cancer 39:1089–1096
Amadori D, Frassinetti GL, Zoli W et al (1996) Phase I/II study of sequential doxorubicin and paclitaxel in the treatment of advanced breast cancer. Semin Oncol 23:16–27
Minotti G, Saponiero A, Licata S et al (2001) Paclitaxel and docetaxel enhance the metabolism of doxorubicin to toxic species in human myocardium. Clin Cancer Res 7:1511–1515
Gianni L, Dombernowsky P, Sledge G et al (2001) Cardiac function following combination therapy with paclitaxel and doxorubicin: an analysis of 657 women with advanced breast cancer. Ann Oncol 12:1067–1073
Gianni L, Bigano L, Locatelli A et al (1997) Human pharmacokinetic characterization and in vitro study of the interaction between doxorubicin and paclitaxel in patients with breast cancer. J Clin Oncol 15:1906–1915
Sparano JA, Winer EP (2001) Liposomal anthracyclines for breast cancer. Semin Oncol 28:32–40
Esposito M, Venturini M, Vannozzi MO et al (1999) Comparative effects of paclitaxel and docetaxel on the metabolism and pharmacokinetics of epirubicin in breast cancer patients. J Clin Oncol 17:1132–1140
Gennari A, Salvadori B, Donati S et al (1999) Cardiotoxicity of epirubicin/paclitaxel-containing regimen: role of cardiac risk factors. J Clin Oncol 17:3596–3602
Herman EH, Zhang J, Lipshultz SE et al (1999) Correlation between serum levels of cardiac troponin-T and the severity of the chronic cardiomyopathy induced by doxorubicin. J Clin Oncol 17:2237–2243
Ferrari E, Talbodec A, Ferrari P et al (1999) Is troponin I of prognostic value in the detection of anthracycline cardiac toxicity? Eur Heart J 83:94
Ciotti R, Ucci G, Belotti G et al (2001) Prospective evaluation of anthracycline-related early cardiac damage: how do we monitor it? J Clin Oncol 19:4269–4270
West M, Blanchette C, Dressman H et al (2001) Predicting the clinical status of human breast cancer by using gene expression profiles. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 98:11462–11467
Ferrero JM, Magné N, Foa C, Largillier R, Namer M (2003) Cardiac tolerability of the combination paclitaxel–anthracyclines in the context of the management of cancer of the breast. Bull Cancer 90:219–226
Acknowledgements
Results presented in part during the 2002 meeting of the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO). The authors acknowledge Mrs. I. Van Ackere for technical assistance and particularly for the translation.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Magné, N., Largillier, R., Marcy, PY. et al. Cardiac toxicity assessment in locally advanced breast cancer treated neoadjuvantly with doxorubicin/paclitaxel regimen. Support Care Cancer 13, 819–825 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-005-0804-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-005-0804-9