Taxane chemotherapy supported for early breast cancer

October 23, 2007

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Adjuvant chemotherapy regimens that use taxanes improve the overall and disease-free survival of women with operable early breast cancer, according to a report in The Cochrane Library released October 16.

"For patients, this study confirms that including taxanes in an adjuvant chemotherapy regimen for early breast cancer will improve their chance of living longer and remaining free of breast cancer," review co-author Dr. Anna Nowak, from the University of Sydney in Australia, said in a statement.

Dr. Nowak's team searched the Cochrane Breast Cancer Group Specialized Register for studies looking at taxane use in women with early operable breast cancer. A total of 20 studies were identified and 12 had enough data for inclusion in the researchers' review. The median follow-up period was 60.4 months.

An analysis of data on 2483 deaths among 18,304 women revealed that taxane-containing chemotherapy regimens improved overall survival by 19% (p < 0.00001). Similarly, amongst 19,943 women with 4800 events, taxane use improved disease-free survival by 19%.

The authors were unable to identify any subgroups of patients who benefitted more or less from taxane-containing regimens.

According to Dr. Nowak, the new findings do not stipulate exactly what chemotherapy regimen should be used to treat early breast cancer, but rather that whatever the selection, taxanes should be a part of it.