1993 Volume 2 Issue 2 Pages 213-216,170
Preoperative induction chemotherapy employing anthracycline agents was performed in 21 patients with locally advanced breast cancer. The response rate of this group receiving preoperative induction chemotherapy was higher than that of 18 historical control patients receiving preoperative endocrine therapy or radiotherapy (48% vs. 28%, p<0.10). Standard radical mastectomy or extended radical mastectomy was carried out after induction chemotherapy, and 90% of the patients with stage III and inflammatory breast carcinoma underwent curative resection. There was no significant difference in survival between the two groups.
However, the 50% survival duration was longer in the preoperative induction chemotherapy group than in the control group (118 months vs. 23 months). Anthracycline agents (adriamycin, epirubicin, and THP-adriamycin) were used alone or in combination with other agents for the preoperative chemotherapy. The side effects were tolerable. Systemic induction chemotherapy using anthracyclines is effective for locally advanced breast cancer as a component of multidisciplinary therapy.
