Breast cancer

If generalizations can be drawn from these two sessions, we would suggest that evidence can be seen in support of certain principles for the chemotherapy of breast cancer. These principles are: 1. (1) Combination chemotherapy. Doxorubicin-containing combinations are superior to others in terms of improved remission rates. In the past decade, combination chemotherapy has resulted in significant improvement of survival in patients with disseminated breast cancer, and with this approach a small fraction of patients with metastatic disease have remained in extended complete remission. 2. (2) Dose of drugs. Drug combinations utilized at lower doses result in lower response rates. 3. (3) Drug dose rate. When chemotherapy is interrupted for treatment of local disease in inflammatory carcinoma of the breast, the survival rate of patients is lower compared to the subgroups of patients where there is no interruption in the treatment.