Breast Cancer Estrogen and Progesterone Receptors: Associations with Patients' Clinical and Epidemiologic Characteristics

A total of 1095 patients with operable breast cancer and en-rolled in a randomized clinical trial were analysed for estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PgR) receptor content of their primary tumor, and the relationships between steroid receptor status and several epidemiologic characteristics were studied. The proportion of ER+ and median ER levels increased with age: compared to women younger than 40, those aged 66 or more were approximately three times more likely to have an ER+ tumor (OR = 3.0, 95% C.I. = 1.6–5.7). This difference tended to be more marked after comparison between patients with ER > 100 fmol/mg protein and ER- within the same age groups: OR = 7.04, 95 % C.I. = 2.89–17.12. No association emerged between age and PgR. ER status and concentrations were independent of menopausal status after adjustment for age, whereas the proportion of PgR+ and PgR levels were significantly lower in postmenopausal patients of the same age. The distribution of ER and PgR profiles was similar in relation to family history of breast cancer, reproductive events and other selected epidemiologic characteristics of the patients.

Paclitaxel in anthracycline-treated breast cancer patients

Between May 1995 and July 1997, paclitaxel (TX) (175 mg/m2 by 3 h i. v. infusion every 21 days) was administered to 70 consecutive patients (median age: 57 years) previously treated with the FEC regimen (cyclophosphamide and 5-fluorouracil, 600 mg/m2, plus epirubicin, 60 or 120 mg/m2) as an adjuvant setting or as a first-line therapy for metastatic disease. Sixty-eight patients were evaluable for response, while two died early. Patients received a median of 4.7 (3-12 course) of TX for a total of 211 courses. The overall response and stable disease rate was 54% in 11 patients, who relapsed following adjuvant FEC, and 60% in 57 patients, who received FEC as first treatment for their metastatic disease. No complete respose was obtained. In patients pretreated for metastatic disease, response and stable disease rates were similar irrespective of previous response to FEC. Main hematologic toxicity of TX was of short duration, grade II/III leukopenia (86% of patients) and non-hematologic toxicity was grade II/III peripheral neuropathy, related to the cumulative dose of TX. At this schedule, TX offers a significant rate of partial responses or disease stabilization in patients with metastatic breast cancer previously treated with FEC.

[Randomized study of the antiemetic efficacy of alizapride versus alizapride + dexamethasone]

We made a study on patients suffering from neoplasias treated with cisplatinum to compare antiemetic efficacy of alizapride or associated to dexamethasone. We divided patients in two groups. We somministred alizapride alone to the first group and alizapride plus dexamethasone to the second one. We evaluated presence or absence of emesis, its intensity and eventual tossic effects due to the drugs through an autocompilative questionnaire given to the patients. Our results didn't show important statistical differences between the two groups, though association with dexamethasone gets better emesis control. Alizapride anyway, didn't present important collateral effects, particularly extrapyramidal ones.