Addition of bevacizumab to three docetaxel regimens as adjuvant therapy for early stage breast cancer

Docetaxel-containing chemotherapy improves disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival in patients with early stage breast cancer. Bevacizumab improves response rate and DFS in metastatic breast cancer. However, adding antivascular endothelial growth factor therapy to anthracycline-containing chemotherapy may increase cardiotoxicity. This trial evaluates the feasibility of adding bevacizumab to three standard adjuvant docetaxel regimens with a primary endpoint of grade ≥3 congestive heart failure (CHF). Phase IIb, randomized, non-comparative study of women with previously untreated node-positive or high-risk node-negative breast cancer. Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative patients were randomized to: (arm A) doxorubicin + cyclophosphamide followed by docetaxel or (arm B) docetaxel + doxorubicin + cyclophosphamide. HER2-positive patients (arm C) received docetaxel + carboplatin + trastuzumab for 52 weeks. All patients received bevacizumab beginning on day 1 for 52 weeks. Safety data in 212 women (mean age = 53.1 years) show that 1 patient each in arm A (1.3 %) and arm C (1.7 %), and 3 patients in arm B (4.0 %) experienced clinical CHF grade ≥3. A decreased ejection fraction was observed in 1 patient each in arms A and C, and cardiac disorder was observed in 12.8, 22.7, and 8.5 % in arms A, B, and C, respectively. A grade 3/4 treatment-emergent adverse event was reported in 82.1, 84.0, and 52.5 % of participants in arms A, B, and C, respectively. Kaplan-Meier estimates of DFS show rates at 24 months of 85.5, 90.4, and 90.4 % in arms A, B, and C, respectively. Adding bevacizumab to three standard docetaxel-based chemotherapy regimens as adjuvant treatment in patients with node-positive and high-risk node-negative breast cancer resulted in a low rate of clinical CHF grade ≥3. Maintenance bevacizumab monotherapy did not identify any new safety signals. Breast cancer recurrence/relapse, secondary malignancies, and death were uncommon, although the follow-up time in this study was relatively short.

Adjuvant systemic therapy for older adults with early-stage breast cancer

There is a relative paucity of evidence to guide the adjuvant therapy of breast cancer in older adults. Herein, we review data from relevant clinical trials and retrospective analyses that assess systemic therapies in older adults. Chemotherapy, endocrine therapy, HER2-directed agents and bisphosphonates in the adjuvant setting are discussed. Meta-analyses, such as the Oxford overview, suggest a decreasing benefit of chemotherapy with age. However, prospective trials do support a benefit from the addition of chemotherapy to endocrine therapy in older adults. In contrast to chemotherapy, the value of endocrine therapy appears to increase with age. In addition, available subset analyses suggest that the benefit from aromatase inhibitors relative to tamoxifen is independent of age. The use of HER2-directed therapy in older adults is challenged by the relatively low enrollment of this subset in prospective clinical trials. Nonetheless, the extent of enrollment may be proportional to the frequency of HER2 overexpression in this population. Finally, there are little data to support the use of adjuvant bisphosphonate therapy in older adults--ongoing prospective trials may address this issue. Each of the aforementioned therapeutic strategies will be augmented by efforts to personalize therapy for older adults. Clinical tools such as the geriatric assessment and biologic assays, such as the 21-gene recurrence score, may ultimately play a role in treatment algorithms for this unique demographic.

Cardiac toxicity in breast cancer survivors: review of potential cardiac problems

As breast cancer survival is increased by the diagnosis of earlier-stage disease and treatments improve, the side effects of cancer treatments, such as cardiotoxicity, remain clinically important. Although physicians have known for 30 years that anthracyclines cause acute and chronic cardiotoxicity, the cardiotoxic effects of radiation therapy, hormonal therapy (including tamoxifen and the aromatase inhibitors), and chemotherapy with taxanes and trastuzumab treatment have emerged more recently. This review examines the cardiac toxicity of adjuvant therapy, monitoring for early changes and existing guidelines for monitoring cardiac function in patients with breast cancer.

International Society of Geriatric Oncology Chemotherapy Taskforce: evaluation of chemotherapy in older patients--an analysis of the medical literature

The elderly comprise the majority of patients with cancer and are the recipients of the greatest amount of chemotherapy. Unfortunately, there is a lack of data to make evidence-based decisions with regard to chemotherapy. This is due to the minimal participation of older patients in clinical trials and that trials have not systematically evaluated chemotherapy. This article reviews the available information with regard to chemotherapy and aging provided by a task force of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG). Due to the lack of prospective data, the conclusions and recommendations made are a consensus of the participants. Extrapolation of data from younger to older patients is necessary, particularly to those patients older than 80 years, for which data is almost entirely lacking. The classes of drugs reviewed include alkylators, antimetabolites, anthracyclines, taxanes, camptothecins, and epipodophyllotoxins. Clinical trials need to incorporate an analysis of chemotherapy in terms of the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic effects of aging. In addition, data already accumulated need to be reanalyzed by age to aid in the management of the older cancer patient.