High-dose chemotherapy supported by peripheral blood progenitor cells in poor prognosis metastatic breast cancer--phase I/II study. Edinburgh Breast Group

Should we continue to study high-dose chemotherapy in metastatic breast cancer patients? A critical review of the published data

Data from eight randomised trials on high-dose chemotherapy (HDC) for metastatic breast cancer (MBC) have been published, but only seven studies are evaluable after the Bezwoda trial was discredited. Moreover, overall survival (OS) has been evaluated in only four out of seven studies since three had a crossover design. OS was similar for the HDC and standard-dose chemotherapy (SDC) group in the four evaluable trials, while disease-free survival (DFS) was improved in the HDC group in six of the seven trials. The delay in relapse for patients with metastatic disease represents an important clinical outcome; furthermore, since none of the reported studies randomised more than 220 patients, their statistical power may have been too limited to detect meaningful survival differences. Finally, preliminary experiences have shown that HDC seems to be the ideal platform upon which to build novel therapies. In conclusion, HDC remains an important field of clinical research for breast cancer patients with stage IV disease and, from the studies reported in this article, there is some evidence for offering this therapeutic modality to selected patients who are interested in a medically aggressive approach.

Harvesting of autologous blood stem cells after a mobilising regimen with low-dose cyclophosphamide

Although high-dose cyclophosphamide (HD-CTX) is commonly used as a mobilising regimen for autologous peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) collection, significant morbidity and insufficient harvesting may complicate the procedure. Alternative regimens and lower doses of cyclophosphamide (CTX) have been investigated as possible ways of overcoming these difficulties. Low-dose CTX (1.5 g/m2) was administered to 102 lymphoma patients as an autologous PBSC mobilising regimen. The collection of 6 x 10(6) CD34+ cells/kg was chosen as the target of the apheresis sessions, whereas 3 x 10(6)/kg were considered the minimum necessary to perform autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) safely. The apheretic sessions were started a median of eight days after CTX administration; a median of two aphereses was required. More than 6 x 10(6) CD34+ cells/kg were collected from 78 patients, between 3 and 6 x 10(6)/kg from 19, and fewer than 3 x 10(6)/kg from 5, two of whom underwent bone marrow harvesting and one a successful second PBSC harvesting session using the same mobilising regimen. Eighty-two patients underwent autografting, six of whom received a second transplant after relapse (five using autologous PBSCs coming from the first apheretic course). Low-dose CTX proved to be a safe and effective regimen for autologous PBSC mobilization and also compared favourably with alternative regimens in terms of the rate of harvesting insufficiency. This does not imply that low-dose CTX is the best mobilising regimen for all patients, and the identification of prognostic factors predicting mobilising potential may help in choosing the best individualised regimen.

Limitations of the use of single base changes in the p53 gene to detect minimal residual disease of breast cancer

BACKGROUND/AIMS

Peripheral blood progenitor cell (PBPC) transplantation is frequently used in the treatment of malignant diseases, but contamination of the graft by tumour cells is a real concern and may lead to disease relapse. The feasibility of applying heterogeneous single base genetic changes as tumour specific markers to detect minimal residual disease in PBPC harvests was studied, using the p53 gene and breast cancer as models.

METHODS

Tumour tissues from 51 patients with cellular aliquots from PBPC harvests available were studied. Thirty eight patients had metastatic disease or were at high risk of metastasis, and 13 had high risk stage II/III disease with four or more involved axillary lymph nodes. Tumour DNA was screened for p53 mutations in exons 5 to 9, using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, followed by sequencing. Based on sequence information, allele specific primers were designed for each mutation and the non-radioisotopic, amplification refractory mutation system (ARMS) was used to screen DNA from PBPC harvests for minimal residual disease. Attempts were made to optimise each system, based on parameters determined using the T47D breast cancer cell line with a confirmed point mutation in codon 194.

RESULTS

Twelve different somatic mutations were found, two of which could not be sequenced. The remainder were point mutations. Only five of the 10 ARMS systems were successfully optimised, and minimal residual disease detection sensitivities ranged from one copy of tumour DNA in 10(2) to 10(3) copies of wild-type DNA. Using ARMS, three of five patients and eight of 12 of their PBPC harvests showed minimal residual disease.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that the use of single base genetic changes in minimal residual disease detection is relatively insensitive and is limited to a small number of patients and to certain mutations. In addition, it is labourious and therefore unlikely to play an important role in clinical practice.

High-dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation for patients with stage IV breast cancer without clinically evident disease: correlation of CD34+ selection to clinical outcome

Forty-five patients with metastatic breast cancer without clinically evident disease were treated with thiotepa 750 mg/m2, mitoxantrone 40 mg/m2 and carboplatin 1000 mg/m2 followed by stem cell transplantation to determine the safety and efficacy of CD34+ selection of peripheral blood stem cells. Of these, 15 patients' (group I) stem cells were processed through Baxter Isolex 300 device for CD34+ selection, whereas 30 patients (group II) received unmanipulated stem cells. Toxicity, progression-free survival and survival were compared between these two groups. There was no difference in transfusion requirements, white cell count and platelet recovery and non-hematologic toxicity between the two groups. The survival of patients in group I was 27 months compared to 38 months in group II (P = 0.8). The progression-free survival was 12 months and 13.5 months for group I and group II patients, respectively (P = 0.6). Our results indicate that while there is no adverse effect, there is also no significant advantage of CD34+ selection in terms of progression-free survival and survival in patients with metastatic breast cancer without clinically evident disease. Bone Marrow Transplantation (2000).

The case for high-dose adjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer: (II) clinical experience

Recent Phase II studies on the use of myelo-ablative chemotherapy in breast cancer have confirmed that this approach is associated with low mortality and apparent efficacy. In a preceding article the theoretical arguments were presented for testing this approach in the high-risk adjuvant setting; in the current article the clinical data justifying the present approaches for this type of treatment are reviewed. The evidence suggests that peripheral blood stem cell supported myelo-ablative chemotherapy should be tested against conventional regimens in order to determine whether or not the increased expense and toxicity of such an approach is associated with improved survival for women whose axillary node status places them at high risk of disease relapse and subsequent death.