Underuse of anthracyclines in women with HER-2+ advanced breast cancer.

ABSTRACT: Anthracyclines are among the most active drugs in breast cancer. Because of excessive cardiotoxicity, their use in combination with trastuzumab has been discouraged in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER)-2(+) metastatic breast cancer. We sought to describe how this treatment paradigm influenced the use of anthracyclines in this patient setting. We analyzed a multi-institutional database containing the treatment history of 450 patients who received at least one trastuzumab-based regimen for HER-2(+) metastatic breast cancer. Patients were considered eligible for anthracyclines for metastatic disease if they were never exposed (NE) or had been previously exposed (PE) to an anthracycline in the neoadjuvant or adjuvant setting and had relapsed after 12 months from the la

SUBMITTER: Montemurro F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3228005 | biostudies-literature | 2010

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature