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Last Modified: 9/10/2008     First Published: 8/1/2001  
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Phase III Randomized Study of Adjuvant Induction Chemotherapy With or Without Cyclophosphamide and Methotrexate as Maintenance Chemotherapy in Patients With Stage I, II, or III Breast Cancer

Alternate Title
Basic Trial Information
Objectives
Entry Criteria
Expected Enrollment
Outcomes
Outline
Trial Contact Information
Registry Information

Alternate Title

Combination Chemotherapy After Surgery in Treating Patients With Stage I, Stage II, or Stage III Breast Cancer

Basic Trial Information

PhaseTypeStatusAgeSponsorProtocol IDs
Phase IIITreatmentActiveNot specifiedOtherIBCSG-22-00
EU-20119, NCT00022516, EUDRACT-2005-005666-36

Objectives

  1. Determine the efficacy of adjuvant induction chemotherapy with or without cyclophosphamide and methotrexate as maintenance chemotherapy in patients with stage I, II, or III breast cancer.
  2. Compare the disease-free survival, overall survival, and systemic disease-free survival of patients treated with these regimens.
  3. Compare the toxic effects of these regimens in these patients.
  4. Compare the quality of life of patients treated with these regimens.

Entry Criteria

Disease Characteristics:

  • Histologically confirmed stage I, II, or III breast cancer
    • T1-3, N0-2, M0
      • Patients with sentinel node biopsy positive disease must have undergone axillary dissection
      • Tumor must be confined to the breast without detected metastases elsewhere
    • T4 disease with minimal dermal invasion allowed
    • No T4 disease with ulceration of skin, infiltration of skin (except pathologically minimal dermal involvement), peau d'orange, or inflammatory breast cancer
  • No bilateral breast cancer (except in situ carcinoma) or suspicious mass in opposite breast that has not been proven benign
  • No distant metastases
    • No skeletal pain of unknown cause, elevated alkaline phosphatase, or bone scan showing hot spots that cannot be ruled out as metastases by x-ray, MRI, and/or CT
  • Must have undergone prior total mastectomy OR breast-conserving procedure (e.g., lumpectomy, quadrantectomy, or partial mastectomy with negative margins)
    • Patients must begin or have begun induction chemotherapy within 8 weeks after definitive surgery
  • Negative surgical margins
  • Axillary clearance with at least 6 lymph nodes examined

    OR

  • Negative sentinel node biopsy

    OR

  • Positive lymph nodes and unsuitable for taxane-based chemotherapy
  • Known HER2 status by immunohistochemistry or fluorescence in situ hybridization
  • Hormone receptor status:
    • Estrogen and progesterone receptor negative
      • Less than 10% positive tumor cells by immunohistochemistry

Prior/Concurrent Therapy:

Biologic therapy:

  • Prior trastuzumab (Herceptin) allowed

Chemotherapy:

  • See Disease Characteristics
  • No prior adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer

Endocrine therapy:

  • No prior endocrine therapy for breast cancer or prevention
  • No prior tamoxifen or raloxifene for breast cancer

Radiotherapy:

  • No prior radiotherapy for breast cancer except primary irradiation

Surgery:

  • See Disease Characteristics

Other:

  • No prior preventative therapy for breast cancer

Patient Characteristics:

Age:

  • Not specified

Sex:

  • Not specified

Menopausal status:

  • Premenopausal, defined as less than 6 months since last menstrual period (LMP) AND no prior bilateral ovariectomy AND not on estrogen replacement (OR under age 50)

    OR

  • Postmenopausal, defined as prior bilateral ovariectomy OR more than 12 months since LMP without prior hysterectomy (OR age 50 and over)

Performance status:

  • Not specified

Life expectancy:

  • Not specified

Hematopoietic:

  • WBC greater than 3,000/mm3
  • Platelet count greater than 100,000/mm3

Hepatic:

  • See Disease Characteristics
  • Bilirubin less than 2.0 mg/dL
  • ALT less than 1.5 times upper limit of normal

    OR

  • AST less than 60 IU/L

Renal:

  • Creatinine less than 1.2 mg/dL

Other:

  • Not pregnant or lactating within the past 6 months
  • Fertile patients must use effective barrier contraception
  • No other prior or concurrent malignancy except adequately treated basal or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, carcinoma in situ of the cervix, or contralateral or ipsilateral in situ breast carcinoma
  • No psychiatric or addictive disorders that would preclude study
  • No non-malignant systemic disease that would preclude study

Expected Enrollment

990

Approximately 900 patients will be accrued for this study within 5 years.

Outcomes

Primary Outcome(s)

Disease-free survival
Overall survival and systemic disease-free survival
Toxicity
Quality of life

Outline

This is a randomized, open-label, multicenter study. Patients are stratified according to participating center, menopausal status (pre vs post), and approved induction chemotherapy (doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide vs other agents). Patients are randomized to one of two treatment arms.

  • Arm I: Patients receive one of the following approved adjuvant induction chemotherapy regimens:
    • AC comprising doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide IV on day 1 every 21 days for 4 courses followed by paclitaxel IV or docetaxel IV on day 1 every 21 days for 4 courses
    • EC comprising epirubicin and cyclophosphamide IV on day 1 every 21 days for 4 courses followed by paclitaxel IV or docetaxel IV on day 1 every 21 days for 4 courses
    • FAC comprising cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and fluorouracil IV on days 1 every 21 days for 4 courses
    • Doxorubicin every 21 days for 4 courses followed by CMF comprising cyclophosphamide IV, methotrexate IV, and fluorouracil IV on days 1 and 8 every 28 days for 4 courses
    • AC OR EC and paclitaxel IV with filgrastim (G-CSF) every 14 days for 4 courses
    • FEC comprising cyclophosphamide IV, epirubicin IV and fluorouracil IV on day 1 every 21 days for 3 courses followed by docetaxel IV on day 1 every 21 days for 3 courses
    • TAC comprising docetaxel, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide IV on day 1 every 21 days for 6 courses
    • AT comprising doxorubicin IV and docetaxel IV every 21 days for 3 courses followed by CMF for 3 courses
  • Arm II: Patients receive adjuvant induction chemotherapy as in arm I. Beginning within 56 days after the first day of the last course of induction chemotherapy, patients receive CM (maintenance chemotherapy) comprising oral cyclophosphamide once daily and oral methotrexate two times a day twice weekly for 1 year.

Patients with breast-conserving surgery receive radiotherapy following completion of induction chemotherapy.

Patients with HER2-positive primary breast cancer may also receive trastuzumab (Herceptin) during or following induction, and/or during and following CM.

Quality of life is assessed at baseline, at the beginning of each course of induction chemotherapy, and at months 9, 12, 18, and 24.

Patients are followed every 6 months for 5 years and then annually thereafter.

Trial Contact Information

Trial Lead Organizations

International Breast Cancer Study Group

Marco Colleoni, MD, Protocol chair
Ph: 39-2-5748-9502

Trial Sites

Australia
  Christchurch
 Christchurch Hospital
 ANZ BCTG Operations Office - Department of Surgical Oncology
Ph: 61-2-4985-0166
New South Wales
  Tweed Heads
 Tweed Heads Hospital
 ANZ BCTG Operations Office - Department of Surgical Oncology
Ph: 61-2-4985-0166
South Australia
  Adelaide
 Queen Elizabeth Hospital
 ANZ BCTG Operations Office - Department of Surgical Oncology
Ph: 61-2-4985-0166
Victoria
  Box Hill
 Box Hill Hospital
 ANZ BCTG Operations Office - Department of Surgical Oncology
Ph: 61-2-4985-0166
  East Ringwood
 Maroondah Hospital
 ANZ BCTG Operations Office - Department of Surgical Oncology
Ph: 61-2-4985-0166
  Wodonga
 Murray Valley Private Hospital and Cancer Treatment Centre
 ANZ BCTG Operations Office - Department of Surgical Oncology
Ph: 61-2-4985-0166
Belgium
  Liege
 CHU Liege - Domaine Universitaire du Sart Tilman
 Guy Jerusalem, MD, PhD
Ph: 32-4-366-7111
 Email: g.jerusalem@chu.ulg.ac.be
Brazil
Rio Grande do Sul
  Porto Alegre
 Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre
 Carlos Menke, MD, PhD
Ph: 55-51-2101-8232
 Email: menke@hcpa.ufrgs.br
Chile
  Santiago
 Centro de Estudios Oncologicos Santiago
 Majlis Alejandro, MD
Ph: 56-2-201-9661
 Fundacion Arturo Lopez Perez
 Alejandro Majlis, MD
Ph: 56-2-421-8596
 Hospital Clinico San Borja Arriaran
 Cesar Del Castillo
Ph: 56-2-544-6628
 Hospital Clinico Universidad de Chile
  Mahave, MD
Ph: 56-2-978-8974
  Valparaiso
 Hospital Carlos Van Buren
 Alejandro Acevedo
Ph: 56-32-204-256
Hungary
  Budapest
 National Institute of Oncology
 Istvan Lang, MD, PhD, DSc
Ph: 36-1-22-48-763
 Email: lang@oncol.hu
Italy
  Bergamo
 Ospedali Riuniti di Bergamo
 Carlo Tondini, MD
Ph: 39-03-526-6424
 Email: carlo.tondoni@ospedaliriuniti.bergamo.it
  Biella
 Ospedale degli Infermi - ASL 12
 Mario Clerico, MD
Ph: 39-15-350-3705
 Email: mario.clerico@asl12.piemonte.it
  Carpi
 Ospedale Civile Ramazzini
 Fabrizio Artioli, MD
Ph: 39-059-659-313
 Email: f.artioli@ausl.mo.it
  Lecco
 Ospedale Alessandro Manzoni
 Giovanni Ucci, MD
Ph: 39-341-489-900
 Email: g.ucci@ospedale.lecco.it
  Milan
 Ospedale San Paolo
 Paolo Foa, MD
Ph: 39-02-5032-3085
  Milano
 European Institute of Oncology
 Marco Colleoni, MD
Ph: 39-2-5748-9502
  Padova
 Azienda Ospedaliera di Padova
 Silvio Monfardini, MD
Ph: 39-49-821-5931
 Email: silvio.monfardini@unipd.it
  Rimini
 Ospedale Civile Rimini
 Alberto Ravaioli, MD
Ph: 39-541-705-409
 Email: aravaiol@auslrn.net
  Rome
 Ospedale Sant' Eugenio
 Mauro Antimi, MD
Ph: 39-06-5100-2569
 Email: mauro.antimi@alsrmc.it
  Udine
 Policlinico Universitario Udine
 Fabio Puglisi
Ph: 39-4-3255-9304
 Email: fabio.puglisi@med.uniud.it
Nigeria
  Ibadan
 University of Ibadan Health Center
 Contact Person
Ph: 234-2-241-0995
Peru
  Lima
 Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Neoplasicas
 Henry Gomez, MD
Ph: 51-1-271-1143
 Email: gomezhenry@terra.com.pe
Republic of South Africa
  Johannesburg
 Sandton Oncology Centre
 Daniel Vorobiof, MD
Ph: 27-11-883-0900
 Email: voro@global.co.za
Romania
  Cluj-Napoca
 Institutul Oncologic - Universitatea de Medicina
 Contact Person
Ph: 40-64-197-692
Switzerland
  Aarau
 Kantonspital Aarau
 Astrid Schonenberger, MD
Ph: 41-62-838-6053
  Bellinzona
 Oncology Institute of Southern Switzerland
 Olivia Pagani, MD
Ph: 41-91-820-9111
 Email: olivia.pagani@ibcsg.org
  Bern
 Inselspital Bern
 Stefan Aebi, MD
Ph: 41-31-632-4114
 Email: stefan.aebi@insel.ch
  Chur
 Kantonsspital Graubuenden
 Roger von Moos, MD
Ph: 41-81-256-6644
 Email: roger.vonmoos@ksgr.ch
  Rheinfelden
 FMH Onkologie/Haematologie
 Beretta Kurt, MD
Ph: 41-61-836-9393
  St. Gallen
 Kantonsspital - St. Gallen
 Beat Thurlimann, MD
Ph: 41-7-1494-1111
 Email: beat.thuerlimann@kssg.ch
  Thun
 Regionalspital
 Jean Marc Luthi, MD
Ph: 41-3-3226-2645
  Zurich
 UniversitaetsSpital Zuerich
 Bernhard Pestalozzi, MD
Ph: 41-44-255-2214

Registry Information
Official Title Maintenance Chemotherapy In Hormone Non-Responsive Breast Cancer, Assessment of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF), Soluble Her2 Protein (NRP, HER2-ECD) and Vascular Cellular Adhesion Molecule-1 (VCAM-1) in Serum Samples
Trial Start Date 2000-11-22
Registered in ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00022516
Date Submitted to PDQ 2001-06-22
Information Last Verified 2008-09-03

Note: The purpose of most clinical trials listed in this database is to test new cancer treatments, or new methods of diagnosing, screening, or preventing cancer. Because all potentially harmful side effects are not known before a trial is conducted, dose and schedule modifications may be required for participants if they develop side effects from the treatment or test. The therapy or test described in this clinical trial is intended for use by clinical oncologists in carefully structured settings, and may not prove to be more effective than standard treatment. A responsible investigator associated with this clinical trial should be consulted before using this protocol.

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