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Adjuvant systemic treatment of resectable breast cancer: eleven years results of a monoinstitutional chemo-hormone-immunotherapy trial.

131 patients with resectable, node-positive breast cancer were treated at the National Institute for Cancer Research of Genoa, Italy with a systemic adjuvant regimen based on 14 cycles of chemotherapy, immunostimulation with levamisole, and--for postmenopausal patients--hormone therapy with tamoxifen. The present evaluation is performed eleven years after the admission of the first patient: so far, 75 patients (57.3%) have relapsed and 52 (39.7%) have died. An analysis of prognostic factors for relapse and death shows that the number of positive axillary lymph nodes and the dimension of the primary tumor are significantly associated with survival and relapse-free survival, while age and menopausal status are not.

Age Factors↗

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Idarubicin: an evaluation of cardiac toxicity in 77 patients with solid tumors.

Idarubicin (4-demethoxydaunorubicin) is a daunorubicin analog that has shown comparable activity and less cardiotoxicity than daunorubicin and doxorubicin in preclinical studies. Phase I and II studies appear to confirm its safety but no definitive conclusion about cardiotoxicity was possible due to the small number of patients in each study. We evaluated 77 patients with advanced solid tumors treated with oral single agent (idarubicin 15 mg/m2 for three days every 4 weeks). Physical examinations and ECGs were performed before every course of treatment and at discontinuation. Eighteen patients also received sequential radionuclide angiocardiographies for evaluation of LVEF. After the administration of a median of 135 mg/m2 of idarubicin (range 45-540), no clinical sign of cardiotoxicity was observed: in three patients minor and transient ECG changes occurred. No significant reduction in mean LVEF values was observed during treatment.

Aged↗