Summary
From October 1973 to October 1977 the ECOG prospectively evaluated cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil (CMF) versus CMF plus fluoxymesterone (CMFH) maintenance therapies in responders to 6 months of induction therapy which consisted of either CMF, CMF plus prednisone (CMFP), or adriamycin plus vincristine (AV). Following the maintenance randomization 12% of the patients converted from a PR to a CR status. The median time from randomization to treatment failure was 9.5 months for CMFH and 6.7 months for CMF (p = 0.03). This difference was observed only for partial responders (p = 0.01) and not for complete responders. Patients receiving CMFH tended to maintain higher hemoglobin, leukocyte, and platelet levels, and receive a higher dosage of each of the cytotoxic drugs. The results are taken as evidence that the addition of fluoxymesterone to a maintenance CMF regimen provides a therapeutic advantage. It is hypothesized that this effect is due at least in part to fluoxymesterone associated maintenance of improved marrow function resulting in greater myelosuppressive drug delivery.
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Address for reprints: Douglass C. Tormey, M.D., Ph.D., Wisconsin Clinical Cancer Center, Room K4/632 Clinical Sciences Center, 600 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI 53792.
The results of this trial were presented in part at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Meeting in April 1979.
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Tormey, D.C., Gelman, R., Band, P.R. et al. A prospective evaluation of chemohormonal therapy remission maintenance in advanced breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Tr 1, 111–119 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01805863
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01805863