[Adjuvant chemotherapy with anthracyclines in comparison with the standard combination of CMF in breast cancer with high risk of relapse]. / Antratsiklin-soderzhashchaia ad''iuvantnaia khimioterapiia v sravnenii s klassicheskoi skhemoi CMF u bol'nykh rakom molochnoi zhelezy s vysokim riskom retsidiva.

The effectiveness of adjuvant therapy with adriablastin and doxorubicin for breast cancer has been compared to that of standard CMF. During 1985-1990, the study included 349 patients with T1-2N2M0 and T3N0-2M0 tumors; mean age--46 yrs; mean follow-up--96.7 months. Overall survival rate in the doxorubicin group was 73%, CMF--62%; relapse-free survival--62.1 and 55%, respectively. The absolute difference in overall survival rates (11%) proved barely significant (p = 0.056). However, the difference in overall survival (p < 0.05) after anthracyclines and CMF in patients with tumors T1-2N2M0 and T3N1M0 was significant and in favor of the former. As far as frequency and degree of side-effects is concerned, their patterns were practically identical in both groups, except for the significantly higher frequency of cardiotoxity and complete alopecia in doxorubicin therapy. Cardiotoxic complication rate was significantly reduced from 13.8 to 3.9% by cardioxane treatment.