Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology
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Ixabepilone (BMS-247550) is an epothilone analog that optimizes the properties of naturally occurring epothilone B. Natural epothilones and their analogs promote tumor cell death by binding to tubulin and stabilizing microtubules, causing apoptosis. This international phase II trial assessed the activity of ixabepilone in patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) that was resistant to taxane therapy. ⋯ Ixabepilone (40 mg/m(2) as a 3-hour infusion every 3 weeks) demonstrates promising antitumor activity and an acceptable safety profile in patients with taxane-resistant MBC.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Impact of a higher radiation dose on local control and survival in breast-conserving therapy of early breast cancer: 10-year results of the randomized boost versus no boost EORTC 22881-10882 trial.
To investigate the long-term impact of a boost radiation dose of 16 Gy on local control, fibrosis, and overall survival for patients with stage I and II breast cancer who underwent breast-conserving therapy. ⋯ After a median follow-up period of 10.8 years, a boost dose of 16 Gy led to improved local control in all age groups, but no difference in survival.
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The oral fluoropyrimidine carbamate, capecitabine, is a highly active and well-tolerated treatment for metastatic breast cancer. In patients treated previously with anthracyclines and taxanes, capecitabine is an approved single-agent therapy. Trastuzumab, a monoclonal antibody targeting the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2), is also highly active in HER-2-overexpressing breast cancer. We have conducted a phase II study to confirm activity and feasibility of capecitabine and trastuzumab in combination in HER-2-overexpressing advanced/metastatic breast cancer. ⋯ These data confirm that the combination of capecitabine and trastuzumab is highly active in patients with HER-2-overexpressing anthracycline- and/or taxane-pretreated breast cancer, with only slight restrictions regarding quality of life.
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To study how survival of palliative cancer patients relates to subjective prediction of survival, objective prognostic factors (PFs), and individual psychological coping. ⋯ This study revealed that physicians' survival estimates were unreliable, especially in the case of patients near death. Self-reported emotional distress and objective PFs may improve the accuracy of survival estimates.