Combination chemoimmunotherapy of metastatic breast cancer with 5‐fluorouracil, adriamycin, cyclophosphamide, and BCG

Gabriel N. Hortobagyi, Jordan U. Gutterman, George R. Blumenschein, Charles K. Tashima, Michael A. Burgess, Lawrence Einhorn, Aman U. Buzdar, Stephen P. Richman, Evan M. Hersh

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

25 Scopus citations

Abstract

One hundred five patients with metastatic breast cancer were treated with 5‐fluorouracil, Adriamycin, cyclophosphamide and BCG (FAC‐BCG). The results were compared to those observed in a group of 44 patients treated with FAC chemotherapy alone. Although the overall response rates were similar (76% for FAC‐BCG and 73% for FAC), the duration of remission was of 9 months for FAC and 14 months for FAC‐BCG (p = 0.008). Similarly, survival of responding patients treated with FAC‐BCG was significantly longer (24 months) than that observed in the chemotherapy alone treated group (15 months). There was no difference in survival or duration on study for nonresponders. Analysis of response rates by known prognostic factors was unrewarding. The duration of remission and survival, however, were significantly longer for patients with bone soft tissue involvement than for patients with visceral metastasis. Similarly patients with 1 or 2 metastatic sites survived significantly longer than those with more than 3 organ sites involved (p= 0.02). This chemotherapeutic combination is highly effective in inducing remissions. In addition, nonspecific immunotherapy with BCG appears to prolong duration of remission and survival for responding patients.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1955-1962
Number of pages8
JournalCancer
Volume44
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1979

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Oncology
  • Cancer Research

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Combination chemoimmunotherapy of metastatic breast cancer with 5‐fluorouracil, adriamycin, cyclophosphamide, and BCG'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this