CAF chemotherapy extends survival with tamoxifen

Adjuvant chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin and fluorouracil (CAF) extends survival in patients with breast cancer who are also receiving tamoxifen, according to a study presented at the 27th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) [San Antonio, US; December 2004]. This study, which involved > 1400 postmenopausal women with node- and receptor-positive breast cancer, showed that six cycles of CAF plus tamoxifen significantly prolonged disease-free survival and overall survival durations, compared with tamoxifen monotherapy. The improvement in survival duration was most pronounced when CAF and tamoxifen were administered sequentially rather than concurrently. Biomarker analyses presented at the meeting showed that the greatest benefit of adding CAF to tamoxifen was observed in patients who had a high nuclear grade, a low-to-intermediate estrogen receptor (ER) score, and were HER2-positive.