Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Effect of once-weekly epoetin beta on survival in patients with metastatic breast cancer receiving anthracycline- and/or taxane-based chemotherapy: results of the Breast Cancer-Anemia and the Value of Erythropoietin (BRAVE) study.
The Breast Cancer-Anemia and the Value of Erythropoietin (BRAVE) study evaluated whether epoetin beta would improve survival in patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC). ⋯ In patients with MBC receiving chemotherapy and initial Hb less than 12.9 g/dL, epoetin beta increased Hb. No difference was detected in overall survival. Because of its superiority design, this study cannot, however, exclude clinically important differences in survival with absolute certainty.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Osteosarcoma: the addition of muramyl tripeptide to chemotherapy improves overall survival--a report from the Children's Oncology Group.
To compare three-drug chemotherapy with cisplatin, doxorubicin, and methotrexate with four-drug chemotherapy with cisplatin, doxorubicin, methotrexate, and ifosfamide for the treatment of osteosarcoma. To determine whether the addition of muramyl tripeptide (MTP) to chemotherapy enhances event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival in newly diagnosed patients with osteosarcoma. ⋯ The addition of ifosfamide to cisplatin, doxorubicin, and methotrexate did not enhance EFS or overall survival for patients with osteosarcoma. The addition of MTP to chemotherapy resulted in a statistically significant improvement in overall survival and a trend toward better EFS.
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In a sample of family caregivers (FCs) of patients with prostate cancer who were to begin radiation therapy (RT), the purposes were to determine the prevalence and severity of depression, anxiety, pain, sleep disturbance, and fatigue; determine the relationships among these symptoms and between these symptoms and functional status and quality of life (QOL); evaluate for differences in functional status and QOL between FCs with low and high levels of these symptoms; and determine which factors predicted FCs' functional status and QOL. ⋯ A high percentage of FCs experienced clinically meaningful levels of a variety of symptoms. These symptoms have a negative impact on the FCs' functional status and QOL.
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Five years of adjuvant tamoxifen therapy for estrogen receptor (ER) -positive breast cancer is more effective than 2 years of use. However, information on tamoxifen discontinuation is scanty. We sought to identify predictors of tamoxifen discontinuation among older women with breast cancer. ⋯ Attention to nonadherence among older women at risk of discontinuation, particularly those receiving BCS without radiotherapy, might improve breast cancer outcomes for these women.