ABSTRACT
We performed a controlled study to compare the response to cyclophosphamide (CPA), adriamycin (ADM), and fluorouracil (5-FU) (CAF therapy) with that to uracil-tegafur (UFT) plus tamoxifen (TAM) (UFT+TAM therapy), when given as postoperative adjuvant therapy to women with breast cancer. The patients were registered from September 1991 through February 1995 at 51 institutions in the Kinki district of Japan. All patients had stage I, II, or IIIa breast cancer with four or more lymph-node metastases and underwent mastectomy. CAF therapy and UFT+TAM therapy were started within 4 weeks after surgery. CAF therapy consisted of CPA (100 mg/day) on days 1 to 14, followed by 2 weeks of rest, plus ADM (20 mg/m(2)/day) on days 1 and 8 and 5-FU (300 mg/m(2)/day) on days 1 and 8. A total of 6 courses were delivered. UFT+TAM therapy consisted of 3 years of UFT (400 mg/day) plus TAM (20 mg/day), given daily. CAF therapy and UFT+TAM therapy were each assigned to 82 patients. The 5-year survival rate was significantly higher in the UFT+TAM group (82.1%) than in the CAF group (66.2%; p=0.04, logrank test). The 5-year relapse-free survival rate was higher in the UFT+TAM group (61.8%) than in the CAF group (46.3%; p=0.07, logrank test). As for adverse events, the rates of leukopenia, anorexia, nausea and vomiting, general malaise, and hair loss were lower in the UFT+TAM group than in the CAF group. These results suggest that long-term treatment with UFT+TAM may be a useful alternative adjuvant therapy for the management of breast cancer, especially in elderly patients.
