Cancer Treatment Today

Weekly paclitaxel is FDA approved; or, at least, the FDA indication does not exclude the weekly schedule. TAXOL is indicated for the treatment of breast cancer after failure of combination chemotherapy for metastatic disease or relapse within 6 months of adjuvant chemotherapy. Prior therapy should have included an anthracycline unless clinically contraindicated. There are now several studies that confirm that it is of similar effectiveness to every

Preclinical data demonstrate in vitro synergy for combinations of docetaxel (Taxotere) and cyclophosphamide. As single agents, both drugs have proven highly active against breast cancer, and the activity of the combination has been confirmed by several phase II studies. More recently, it has proven adjuvant efficacy on par with anthracycline containing regimen in a trial to directly compare AC to Taxotere/Cytoxan (TC) as adjuvant treatment in breast

The MUGA scan (MUltiple Gated Acquisition scan) is a noninvasive tool for assessing the function of the heart. The MUGA scan produces a moving image of the beating heart, and from this image several important features can be determined about the health of the cardiac ventricles (the heart’s major pumping chambers) and a measurement of cardiac ejection fraction. The latter can be monitored during chemotherapy to diagnos cardiotoxicity and adjust

The Taxol and Tykerb combination has recently been shown to improve quality of life in metastatic breast cancer patients versus Taxol alone. In a phase 3 randomized, multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, first-line therapy with lapatinib plus paclitaxel significantly improved clinical outcomes based on a pre-planned analysis of ErbB2+ metastatic breast cancer patients. The combination of investigational Tykerb (lapatinib) and Taxol

Mammographic screening has led to an increase in the number of small, node-negative breast cancers being diagnosed. Node-negative breast cancers that are  1 cm are stage T1a,bN0M0. Controversy surrounds the prognosis of these patients with locoregional therapy only and the need for adjuvant systemic therapy. Early studies reported 10-year relapse-free survival (RFS) rates higher than 90% without adjuvant systemic therapy, but some more recent data

Gestational trophoblastic disease comprises a spectrum of interrelated conditions originating from the placenta and includes the most agressive type, choriocarcinoma.  Histologically distinct disease entities encompassed by this general terminology include complete and partial hydatidiform moles, invasive moles, gestational choriocarcinomas, and placental site trophoblastic tumors. Before the advent of sensitive assays for human chorionic gonadotropin

Since a study demonstrated that Herceptin(trastuzumab) plus a taxane is associated with a clinical benefit that is superior to that of a taxane alone,  a number of combinations have been studied, including Herceptin with gemcitabine. A 2006 review in "The Oncologist" cites two trials of gemcitabine/trastuzumab as a second-line therapy; in one trial this combination treatment resulted in a response rate of 36 percent, in the other trial a response

Since 1998, the standard of adjuvant care for patients with node-positive breast cancer in the United States and other parts of the world has been treatment with doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide followed by the taxane paclitaxel.  This regimen was first administered on a schedule of once every three weeks and then, more recently, once every two weeks, after a comparative trial demonstrated improved efficacy (a 7 percent absolute improvement in disease-free

Two independent phase II studies have shown that the combination of carboplatin and docetaxel (Taxotere®; Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Bridgewater, NJ) is active in the first-line treatment of metastatic breast cancer. Based on these promising results, nonanthracycline alternatives were investigated, with many of them incorporating platinum agents. A recent review concluded: "In several phase II studies, combination carboplatin and paclitaxel