Adjuvant Treatment

Treating with chemotherapy before surgery for breast cancer

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy came into vogue in the seventies and eighties, spurred on by the success of organ preservation strategies in cancers such as laryngeal and rectal cancer. It used to be thought there are two potential benefits of neoadjuvant chemotherapy: downstaging a breast tumor so lesser surgery can be performed - lumpectomy instead of mastectomy, and to potentially treat early occult metastatic disease and to improve survival. The first

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Generic Versus Brand Name Aromasin

Brand-name Aromasin is manufactured by Pfizer, Inc. However, the patent for this medicine has expired in early 2012, and it is now available in generic form. Aromasin is available in generic form in one strength: exemestane 25 mg tablets. Generic Aromasin is made by Roxane Laboratories, Inc., and Greenstone LLC. The version made by Greenstone is an "authorized generic," which means that it is actually made by Pfizer and is actually the real, brand-name

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Gemcitabine for Adjuvant Therapy of Breast Cancer

Occasionally one encounters the situation of a breast cancer patient who received four cycles on Adriamycin and Cytoxan as adjuvant therapy after her surgery, but when the second part of the treatment begins, and she received Taxol or Taxotere, she has a reaction and cannot tolerate it. Some physicians than give four cycles of gemcitabine instead of a taxane. Unfortunately, this practice has not been formally studied.  Unlike for pancreatic cancer,

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