High-Dose Chemo Provides Little Benefit to Breast Cancer Patients

Related Encyclopedia • Adenocarcinoma of the Lung and Brain Metastases • Amenorrhea • Amniocentesis • Amniocentesis and CVS More... Related Healthscout Videos A Welcome Message from Survivor PJ Hamel Smother Says "Cut!" Maryann and Paula When's the Next Free Mammogram Day? October 17, 2008!!! More... Related Animations • Breast Reduction • Breast Self-Exam Video • Colon Cancer • Erectile Dysfunction More... Related Drug Information • Actonel • Detrol LA • Diflucan • Ditropan XL More... Related News Articles • Avoiding a Holiday Season of Discontent • Treatment Options Are Many for Prostate Cancer • Health Tip: Warning Signs for Ovarian Cancer • New Statistical Model Could Cut Needless Breast Biopsies More...

Page:  << Prev | 1 | 2

"Ten years ago, if a woman didn't get a bone marrow transplant, people were suing HMOS, because they said they were denying care," Brooks said. "The cases won."

Although progressively easier to tolerate, the therapy often caused nausea, vomiting, extreme weakness and infection. Some patients even died from the treatment.

Some small studies found that the treatment was beneficial for women with very high-risk cancer (at least 10 positive lymph nodes), but the trials were not randomized.

Text Continues Below

---

Later, randomized trials did not confirm the same benefit, and the treatment has largely fallen out of favor.

"But there were still some nagging questions," Berry said. "One was that maybe there was a subset who benefited."

Berry and his colleagues reviewed 15 randomized studies of high-dose chemotherapy conducted around the world between 1988 and 2002. Together, the trials involved more than 6,000 patients with a median follow-up of seven years.

There was a 13 percent decrease in the rate of breast cancer relapse in patients receiving high-dose chemotherapy. But that benefit did not extend survival. The decrease in mortality was only 6 percent, which was not statistically significant.

Increasing doses of chemotherapy do have some benefit for breast cancer patients, but it does reach a point of diminishing returns.

"Increasing the dose is good, but it reaches a plateau," confirmed Berry.

More information

The American Cancer Society has more on chemotherapy for breast cancer.

Page:  << Prev | 1 | 2