Camille Loret

BACKGROUND: We compared docetaxel plus doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide (TAC) with fluorouracil plus doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide (FAC) as adjuvant chemotherapy for operable node-positive breast cancer. METHODS: We randomly assigned 1491 women with axillary node-positive breast cancer to six cycles of treatment with either TAC or FAC as adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery. The primary end point was disease-free survival. RESULTS: At a median follow-up of 55 months, the estimated rates of disease-free survival at five years were 75 percent among the 745 patients randomly assigned to receive TAC and 68 percent among the 746 randomly assigned to receive FAC, representing a 28 percent reduction in the risk of relapse (P=0.001) in the TAC group. The estimated rates of overall survival at five years were 87 percent and 81 percent, respectively. Treatment with TAC resulted in a 30 percent reduction in the risk of death (P=0.008). The incidence of grade 3 or 4 neutropenia was 65.5 percent in the TAC group and 49.3 percent in the FAC group (P<0.001); rates of febrile neutropenia were 24.7 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively (P<0.001). Grade 3 or 4 infections occurred in 3.9 percent of the patients who received TAC and 2.2 percent of those who received FAC (P=0.05); no deaths occurred as a result of infection. Two patients in each group died during treatment. Congestive heart failure and acute myeloid leukemia occurred in less than 2 percent of the patients in each group. Quality-of-life scores decreased during chemotherapy but returned to baseline levels after treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Adjuvant chemotherapy with TAC, as compared with FAC, significantly improves the rates of disease-free and overall survival among women with operable node-positive breast cancer.

PURPOSE: Docetaxel (Taxotere, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, Antony, France) and cisplatin are two of the most active single agents used in the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A recently reported phase I study of the combination of docetaxel and cisplatin recommended a dose of 75 mg/m2 of both drugs every 3 weeks for subsequent phase II study. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Eligible patients were aged 18 to 75 years with a World Health Organization (WHO) performance status < or = 2 and life expectancy > or = 12 weeks, with metastatic and/or locally advanced NSCLC proven histologically or cytologically. Patients were not permitted to have received prior chemotherapy, extensive radiotherapy, or any radiotherapy to the target lesion and must have had measurable disease. Concurrent treatment with colony-stimulating factors (CSFs) or prophylactic antibiotics was not permitted. Docetaxel (75 mg/m2) in 250 mL 5% dextrose was given intravenously (i.v.) over 1 hour immediately before cisplatin (75 mg/m2) in 500 mL normal saline given i.v. over 1 hour in 3-week cycles. Premedication included ondansetron, dexamethasone, promethazine, and standard hyperhydration with magnesium supplementation. RESULTS: A total of 47 patients, two thirds of whom had metastatic disease, were entered onto this phase II study. The majority of patients were male (72%) and of good (WHO 0 to 1) performance status (85%). All 47 patients were assessable for toxicity and 36 were for response. Three patients were ineligible and eight (17%) discontinued treatment because of significant toxicity. In assessable patients, the overall objective response rate was 38.9% (95% confidence limits [CL], 23.1% to 56.5%), 36.1% had stable disease, and 25% progressive disease. On an intention-to-treat analysis, the objective response rate was 29.8%. Median survival was 9.6 months and estimated 1-year survival was 33%. Significant (grade 3/4) toxicities included nausea (26%), hypotension (15%), diarrhea (13%), and dyspnea mainly related to chest infection (13%). One patient experienced National Cancer Institute (NCI) grade 3 neurosensory toxicity after eight cycles. Grade 3/4 neutropenia was common and occurred in 87% of patients, but thrombocytopenia > or = grade 3 was rare (one patient). Significant (grade 3/4) abnormalities of magnesium levels were common (24%). Febrile neutropenia occurred in 13% of patients and neutropenic infection in 11%, contributing to two treatment-related deaths. No neutropenic enterocolitis or severe fluid retention was reported. CONCLUSION: Compared with other active regimens used in this setting, the combination of docetaxel and cisplatin in advanced NSCLC is an active regimen with a similar toxicity profile to other combination regimens.

We compared the effects of three growth factors, acidic fibroblast growth factor (aFGF), epidermal growth factor (EGF), and thrombin, on rat astroblast proliferation, morphology, glutamine synthetase-specific activity, and phenotypic expression of proteins. In vitro experiments were made on 20-day-old primary cultures. Astroblast proliferation was stimulated transiently (after 48 h treatment) by the three growth factors, while the cell glutamine synthetase activity began to increase significantly only after 3 days of treatment. Acidic FGF and EGF, but not thrombin, modified the cell morphology. The effects on phenotypic expression were first determined after 5 days of treatment to minimize the mitogenic effect of the factors. Proteins synthesized during the last 18 h of the treatments were separated by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. About 600 spots were compared, 54 were modulated by the various treatments, 13 were altered similarly by all three factors, 28 by aFGF and EGF, 7 by only aFGF, 3 by only EGF, and 3 by only thrombin. These results indicate a large similarity of effects between aFGF and EGF (41 proteins) and show that these factors elicit a more extended modulation of the phenotypic expression than thrombin (13 proteins). Each of the three factors has a few specific effects, which suggests that even for aFGF and EGF, which are supposed to elicit their effects through membrane receptor-associated tyrosine kinase activity, some specificity appears in their mechanism of action. A model is proposed to suggest that cell maturation is characterized by the modulation of the synthesis of many proteins which can be grouped into classes. Each class appears to be under the control of one regulatory element. The specificity of the effect of a growth factor should result from the activation of a specific combination of such regulatory elements. Analysis of the proteins after only 18 h of treatment, when neither proliferation nor maturation were significantly affected, showed that 11 proteins were regulated only at that time. These proteins could be related to intermediate steps of the growth factor signal transduction.

PURPOSE: To determine the maximum-tolerated doses (MTDs), principal toxicities, and pharmacokinetics of the combination of docetaxel and cisplatin administered every 3 weeks to patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have not received prior chemotherapy and to recommend a dose for phase II studies. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with advanced NSCLC and performance status 0 to 2 who had not received prior chemotherapy received docetaxel over 1 hour followed by cisplatin over 1 hour with hydration. Dose levels studied were (docetaxel/cisplatin) 50/75, 75/75, 75/100, and 100/75 mg/m2 repeated every 3 weeks. Colony-stimulating factor (CSF) support was not used. Pharmacokinetics of docetaxel and cisplatin were studied in the first cycle of therapy. Most patients (79%) had metastatic disease or intrathoracic recurrence after prior radiation and/or surgery. RESULTS: Of 24 patients entered, all were assessable for toxicity and 18 for response. The MTD schedules were docetaxel 75 mg/m2 with cisplatin 100 mg/m2 (dose-limiting toxicities [DLTs] in five of six patients), and docetaxel 100 mg/m2 with cisplatin 75 mg/m2 (DLTs in two of two patients, including one fatal toxicity). Limiting toxicities were febrile neutropenia and nonhematologic, principally diarrhea and renal. Two patients had neutropenic enterocolitis. Pharmacokinetics of both drugs were consistent with results from single-agent studies, which suggests no major pharmacokinetic interaction. Neutropenia was related to docetaxel area under the plasma concentration-versus-time curve (AUC). An alternative schedule was investigated, with cisplatin being administered over 3 hours commencing 3 hours after docetaxel, but toxicity did not appear to be less. Independently reviewed responses occurred in eight of 18 patients (44%; 95% confidence interval, 22% to 69%), most following 75 mg/m2 of both drugs. CONCLUSION: Docetaxel 75 mg/m2 over 1 hour followed by cisplatin 75 mg/m2 over 1 hour is recommended for phase II studies. The responses seen in this phase I study suggest a high degree of activity of this combination in previously untreated advanced NSCLC.