Showing posts sorted by date for query epirubicin. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query epirubicin. Sort by relevance Show all posts

Thursday, November 10, 2016

DECT trial shows combination of epirubicin and trastuzumab improves outcomes in breast cancer patients


In continuation of my update on epirubicin 

The study entitled "A phase II neoadjuvant sequential regimen of docetaxel followed by high-dose epirubicin in combination with cyclophosphamide administered concurrently with trastuzumab. The DECT trial" has recently appeared in the Journal of Cell Physiology, an international, per-reviewed journal focused on cancer-related issues. The authors belong to a multidisciplinary Italian-American team with a long and productive history of collaboration with Prof. Antonio Giordano, Director of the Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research of Philadelphia, Temple University Pennsylvania, USA and the Department of Medicine Surgery and Neuroscience at University of Siena.
Epirubicin.png epirubicin

"The use of trastuzumab, a monoclonal antibody targeting the HER2 receptor, has dramatically improved the prognosis of the subgroup of breast cancer patients whose tumors overexpress this specific receptor. One of the greatest challenges in these patients has been combining trastuzumab with extremely effective drugs such as anthracyclines at the cost of an acceptable toxicity. Initial evidence seemed to discourage this approach due to the high-rate of cardiotoxicity, i.e., 27%, reported in the pivotal phase III trial of metastatic breast cancer from Slamon and colleagues. Subsequent studies have partly downsized these results. Yet, several doubts have remained concerning the combined use of these drugs. The DECT trial was design to further address this key question. We also used the data from this randomized trial to interpret treatment efficacy in light of hormonal and metabolic determinants, including the expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors and body mass index," says Prof. Antonio Giordano.


"We enrolled 45 HER2-positive breast cancer patients with locally advanced or operable HER2-positive disease to test the efficacy and toxicity of epirubicin combined with trastuzumab. We observed an exceptionally high rate of responses, particularly in the subgroup of patients with inflammatory disease, and no relevant toxicity, including cardiotoxicity. In addition, some specific disease-and patient-related features were associated with better outcomes. More specifically, the highest chances of optimal response were associated with the lack of hormone receptors and higher BMI," says Dr. Maddalena Barba, researcher at the Regina Elena National Cancer Institute of Rome.
"Although current guidelines discourage from the concurrent use of trastuzumab and anthracyclines in HER2-positive breast cancer, we challenged once more the available evidence by administering a less cardiotoxic anthracycline, i.e., epirubicin at a high dose. The results obtained were remarkable in terms of efficacy and absolutely encouraging in terms of toxicity. In addition, our finding on BMI may deserve further investigation in future studies of HER2-positive breast cancer. The goal we pursue is to define the HER2-positive patient profile which better matches with the highest efficacy at the price of an absolutely acceptable toxicity, including cardiotoxicity," clarifies and concludes Prof. Giordano, a renowned expert in breast cancer.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Capecitabine combination therapy reduces early breast cancer recurrence...

Capecitabine, is an orally-administered chemo therapeutic agent used in the treatment of metastatic breast and colorectal cancers.

Mode of action :

Capecitabine is a prodrug, that is enzymatically converted to 5-fluorouracil in the tumor, where it inhibits DNA synthesis and slows growth of tumor tissue. The activation of capecitabine follows a pathway with three enzymatic steps and two intermediary metabolites, 5'-deoxy-5-fluorocytidine (5'-DFCR) and 5'-deoxy-5-fluorouridine (5'-DFUR), to form 5-fluorouracil. Its being used (& FDA approved) in the treatment of adjuvant in colorectal cancer, metastatic colorectal cancer and Metastatic breast cancer - used in combination with docetaxel, after failure of anthracycline-based treatment. Also as monotherapy, if the patient has failed paclitaxel-based treatment, and if anthracycline-based treatment has either failed or cannot be continued for other reasons.

Recently, Finnish Breast Cancer Group and published in The Lancet Oncology shows women at intermediate to high-risk of early breast cancer recurrence who received capecitabine as part of their chemotherapy regimen had a 34% reduction in the risk of the disease returning or death, compared with those taking the chemotherapy combination regimen without capecitabin. The pre-planned three-year interim analysis of a randomised, prospective trial compared adjuvant capecitabine in combination with docetaxel and cyclophosphamide plus epirubicin for the treatment of early breast cancer with the standard, non-capecitabine regimen (docetaxel, epirubicin, cyclophosphamide and fluorouracil). The analysis also found that patients taking the capecitabine-containing regimen were significantly less likely to have their cancer spread (distant metastasis) to another part of the body (a 36% reduction in risk was observed). This is the first phase III randomised trial to report efficacy of capecitabine combination therapy in the adjuvant treatment of early breast cancer.

Though capecitabine, has already been shown to be effective in patients with advanced breast cancer, but the most important conclusion the researchers have arrived is "capecitabine-containing regimen in the early stages of breast cancer may offer survival benefits for women".....

Source :http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045%2809%2970307-9/fulltext