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SAN FRANCISCO-Results are now emerging regarding the use of docetaxel (Taxotere) in the adjuvant breast cancer setting. A large study presented at the 37th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) evaluated the adjuvant use of docetaxel plus cyclophosphamide (TC 75/600 mg/m²) and found it to be better tolerated than standard doxorubicin (Adriamycin) plus cyclophosphamide (AC 60/600 mg/m²).

SAN FRANCISCO-Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) 9082 has failed in its second analysis to show a survival benefit for intensive therapy and transplant in primary breast cancer patients with multiple positive axillary lymph nodes. Nevertheless, outcomes in the 785-patient study, which compared high-dose and intermediate-dose consolidation chemotherapy with alkylating agents, are superior to outcomes achieved in studies of standard-dose therapy alone, William P. Peters, MD, PhD, said on behalf of investigators in the study, which was started more than 10 years ago. Dr. Peters, director of the Karmanos Cancer Institute, Detroit, spoke at the 37th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

SEATTLE-Double reading mammograms increases breast cancer detection rates but not without substantial costs, according to a study done at Fletcher Allen Health Care, Burlington, Vermont, and presented at the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Roentgen Ray Society.

SAN FRANCISCO-Preliminary results of an ongoing phase III study suggest that weekly paclitaxel (Taxol) followed by FAC (fluorouracil/Adriamycin/cyclophosphamide) provides improved pathologic complete response rates, compared with standard paclitaxel followed by FAC, M.D. Anderson researchers reported at the 37th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), held in San Francisco.

DALLAS-Responding to a growing body of research that suggests cognitive dysfunction and asthenia are prevalent side effects of adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer, Joyce O’Shaughnessy, MD, of US Oncology is investigating recombinant human erythropoietin as a neuroprotective agent.

NEW YORK-"I’m going to die," Jerri Nielsen, MD, recalled thinking when she discovered a lump in her right breast while she was the physician at the Admundsen-Scott South Pole Station. "I’m going to die here, or I’m going to die after I get off the ice."

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla-Eighty percent of breast cancer survivors were found to have osteoporosis or osteopenia at the outset of a University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing pilot study into preventing osteoporosis among survivors.

SAN FRANCISCO-The addition of docetaxel (Taxotere) to an anthracycline (doxorubicin)-containing regimen may improve response rates in the first-line treatment of metastatic breast cancer. The findings come from a large international trial, TAX 307, presented at the 37th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in San Francisco.

WASHINGTON-Cutting-edge molecular research supported by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) promises revolutionary changes in the way physicians screen, diagnose, and treat breast cancer, NCI director Richard D. Klausner, MD, told the Senate appropriations subcommittee that oversees the NCI.

SAN FRANCISCO-Elderly women who survived breast cancer received more preventive health care overall than a matched control group of cancer-free women. This finding was based on a review of financial records by researchers at the Center for Outcomes and Policy Research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

SAN FRANCISCO-The impact of achieving amenorrhea during treatment for premenopausal breast cancer is controversial, according to data from the National Cancer Institute of Canada (NCIC) Clinical Trials Group (CTG). A common occurrence among premenopausal breast cancer patients, treatment-induced amenorrhea is often considered a positive prognostic factor. The NCIC CTG data was unable to demonstrate such an effect.