TY - JOUR
T1 - Adjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer
T2 - To use or not to use, the anthracyclines
AU - Crozier, Jennifer A.
AU - Swaika, Abhisek
AU - Moreno-Aspitia, Alvaro
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
PY - 2014/8/10
Y1 - 2014/8/10
N2 - Breast cancer continues to be one of the leading causes of cancer mortality in the world. The treatment generally involves multiple modalities including surgery, radiation and/or chemotherapy. Anthracyclines, one of the first chemotherapeutic agents introduced in the 1960s, has been the backbone for the last 30 years and has been used extensively so far. However, the cardiac toxicity and the concern for secondary hematological malignancy has always been a challenge. A better understanding of the tumor biology, role of Her2 expression and the discovery of trastuzumab and other anti-Her 2 agents along with other effective novel therapeutic options, have revolutionized the treatment for breast cancer. The role of anthracyclines has come under close scrutiny, especially in the adjuvant setting for patients with early stage breast cancer and those with low or intermediate risk of disease recurrence. Recent studies have highlighted such a shift in the use of anthracyclines in both the academic and community clinical practice. However, in patients with a high risk of relapse, anthracyclines still hold promise. Ongoing clinical trials are underway to further define the role of anthracyclines in such a patient population. This review highlights the development, clinical utility, limitations and potential future use of anthracyclines in the adjuvant setting for patients with breast cancer. We consulted PubMed, Scopus, MEDLINE, ASCO annual symposium abstracts, and http://clinicaltrials.gov/ for the purpose of this review.
AB - Breast cancer continues to be one of the leading causes of cancer mortality in the world. The treatment generally involves multiple modalities including surgery, radiation and/or chemotherapy. Anthracyclines, one of the first chemotherapeutic agents introduced in the 1960s, has been the backbone for the last 30 years and has been used extensively so far. However, the cardiac toxicity and the concern for secondary hematological malignancy has always been a challenge. A better understanding of the tumor biology, role of Her2 expression and the discovery of trastuzumab and other anti-Her 2 agents along with other effective novel therapeutic options, have revolutionized the treatment for breast cancer. The role of anthracyclines has come under close scrutiny, especially in the adjuvant setting for patients with early stage breast cancer and those with low or intermediate risk of disease recurrence. Recent studies have highlighted such a shift in the use of anthracyclines in both the academic and community clinical practice. However, in patients with a high risk of relapse, anthracyclines still hold promise. Ongoing clinical trials are underway to further define the role of anthracyclines in such a patient population. This review highlights the development, clinical utility, limitations and potential future use of anthracyclines in the adjuvant setting for patients with breast cancer. We consulted PubMed, Scopus, MEDLINE, ASCO annual symposium abstracts, and http://clinicaltrials.gov/ for the purpose of this review.
KW - Adjuvant
KW - Anthracyclines
KW - Breast cancer
KW - Chemotherapy
KW - Neoadjuvant
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84929175534&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84929175534&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.5306/wjco.v5.i3.529
DO - 10.5306/wjco.v5.i3.529
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:84929175534
SN - 2218-4333
VL - 5
SP - 529
EP - 538
JO - World Journal of Clinical Oncology
JF - World Journal of Clinical Oncology
IS - 3
ER -