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Combination Chemotherapy in Treating Patients With Early Stage Breast Cancer That Has Been Removed By Surgery

Phase 3
Active, not recruiting
Conditions
Breast Cancer
Interventions
Registration Number
NCT00301925
Lead Sponsor
Institute of Cancer Research, United Kingdom
Brief Summary

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving more than one drug (combination chemotherapy) may kill more tumor cells. Giving combination chemotherapy after surgery may kill any remaining tumor cells. It is not yet known which combination chemotherapy regimen is more effective in treating early stage breast cancer that has been removed by surgery.

PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying four different combination chemotherapy regimens to compare how well they work in treating patients with early stage breast cancer that has been removed by surgery.

Detailed Description

OBJECTIVES:

Primary

* Compare the disease-free survival (DFS) of patients with completely resected early stage breast cancer receiving 1 of 2 different schedules of adjuvant chemotherapy comprising epirubicin, cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil versus 1 of 2 different schedules of adjuvant chemotherapy comprising epirubicin and capecitabine.

Secondary

* Compare overall survival (OS) and distant disease-free survival (DFS).

* Compare the tolerability (including serious adverse events \[SAE\], dose-intensity, and toxicity) of these regimens.

* Determine the detailed toxicity of these regimens.

* Determine the quality of life of a subset of these patients.

OUTLINE: This is a multi-center, randomized study. Patients are stratified according to participating center, nodal status (N0 vs N1-3 vs N≥ 4), age (≤ 50 years vs \> 50 years), and estrogen receptor (ER) status (negative vs positive). Patients are randomized to 1 of 4 treatment arms.

* Arm I: Patients receive epirubicin on day 1. Treatment repeats every 3 weeks for 4 courses. Patients then receive cyclophosphamide orally once daily on days 1-14 or IV on days 1 and 8 and methotrexate and fluorouracil on days 1 and 8. Treatment repeats every 28 days for 4 courses.

* Arm II: Patients receive epirubicin on day 1 and pegfilgrastim on day 2. Treatment repeats every 2 weeks for 4 courses. Patients then receive cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and fluorouracil as in arm I.

* Arm III: Patients receive epirubicin as in arm I. Patients then receive oral capecitabine twice daily on days 1-14. Treatment with capecitabine repeats every 3 weeks for 4 courses.

* Arm IV: Patients receive epirubicin and pegfilgrastim as in arm II. Patients then receive capecitabine as in arm III.

In all arms, treatment continues in the absence of unacceptable toxicity.

Beginning 3-6 months later, all patients may undergo radiotherapy at the discretion of the principal investigator. Patients with ER- and/or progesterone receptor-positive disease then receive tamoxifen citrate or an aromatase inhibitor for up to 5 years.

Quality of life is assessed in a cohort of 1,000 patients in week 6, week 8 or 12, and week 20 or 24 during treatment and then at 12 and 24 months after randomization.

After completion of study therapy, patients are followed every 6 months for 2 years and then annually for at least 10 years.

Peer Reviewed and Funded or Endorsed by Cancer Research UK.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 4,400 patients will be accrued for this study.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
4400
Inclusion Criteria

Not provided

Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
FACTORIAL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Accelerated Epi-CMFepirubicin hydrochloride-
Accelerated Epi-CMFfluorouracil-
Epi-Capecitabineadjuvant therapy-
Accelerated Epi-Capecitabinepegfilgrastim-
Accelerated Epi-Capecitabinecapecitabine-
Accelerated Epi-Capecitabineepirubicin hydrochloride-
Accelerated Epi-CMFpegfilgrastim-
Epi-CMFadjuvant therapy-
Accelerated Epi-Capecitabineadjuvant therapy-
Epi-CMFepirubicin hydrochloride-
Accelerated Epi-CMFadjuvant therapy-
Epi-Capecitabineepirubicin hydrochloride-
Epi-Capecitabinecapecitabine-
Accelerated Epi-CMFcyclophosphamide-
Accelerated Epi-CMFmethotrexate-
Epi-CMFcyclophosphamide-
Epi-CMFfluorouracil-
Epi-CMFmethotrexate-
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Disease-free survival (DFS) at 5 years
Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Distant DFS at 5 years
Detailed toxicity
Quality of life
Tolerability (including serious adverse events, dose-intensity, and toxicity)
Overall survival at 5 years

Trial Locations

Locations (150)

William Harvey Hospital

🇬🇧

Ashford-Kent, England, United Kingdom

Wansbeck General Hospital

🇬🇧

Ashington, England, United Kingdom

Tameside General Hospital

🇬🇧

Ashton-Under-Lyne, England, United Kingdom

North Devon District Hospital

🇬🇧

Barnstaple, England, United Kingdom

Furness General Hospital

🇬🇧

Barrow in Furness, England, United Kingdom

Basildon University Hospital

🇬🇧

Basildon, England, United Kingdom

Basingstoke and North Hampshire NHS Foundation Trust

🇬🇧

Basingstoke, England, United Kingdom

Queen Elizabeth Hospital at University Hospital of Birmingham NHS Trust

🇬🇧

Birmingham, England, United Kingdom

City Hospital - Birmingham

🇬🇧

Birmingham, England, United Kingdom

Birmingham Heartlands Hospital

🇬🇧

Birmingham, England, United Kingdom

Scroll for more (140 remaining)
William Harvey Hospital
🇬🇧Ashford-Kent, England, United Kingdom

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