Publication
Gemcitabine as adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with high-risk early breast cancer-results from the randomized phase III SUCCESS-A trial
Journal Paper/Review - Oct 23, 2020
De Gregorio Amelie, Schneeweiss Andreas, Tesch Hans, Mahner Sven, Brucker Sara Y, Blohmer Jens-Uwe, Fehm Tanja N, Heinrich Georg, Lato Krisztian, Beckmann Matthias W, Rack Brigitte, Andergassen Ulrich, Bekes Inga, Fink Visnja, Häberle Lothar, Fasching Peter A, Müller Volkmar, Schrader Iris, Lorenz Ralf, Forstbauer Helmut, Friedl Thomas W P, Bauer Emanuel, De Gregorio Nikolaus, Deniz Miriam, Janni Wolfgang
Units
PubMed
Doi
Citation
Type
Journal
Publication Date
Issn Electronic
Pages
Brief description/objective
BACKGROUND
When chemotherapy is indicated in patients with early breast cancer, regimens that contain anthracyclines and taxanes are established standard treatments. Gemcitabine has shown promising effects on the response and prognosis in patients with metastatic breast cancer. The SUCCESS-A trial (NCT02181101) examined the addition of gemcitabine to a standard chemotherapy regimen in high-risk early breast cancer patients.
METHODS
A total of 3754 patients with at least one of the following characteristics were randomly assigned to one of the two treatment arms: nodal positivity, tumor grade 3, age ≤ 35 years, tumor larger than 2 cm, or negative hormone receptor status. The treatment arms received either three cycles of 5-fluorouracil, epirubicin, and cyclophosphamide, followed by three cycles of docetaxel (FEC → Doc); or three cycles of FEC followed by three cycles of docetaxel and gemcitabine (FEC → Doc/Gem). The primary study aim was disease-free survival (DFS), and the main secondary objectives were overall survival (OS) and safety.
RESULTS
No differences were observed in the 5-year DFS or OS between FEC → Doc and FEC → Doc/Gem. The hazard ratio was 0.93 (95% CI, 0.78 to 1.12; P = 0.47) for DFS and 0.94 (95% CI, 0.74 to 1.19; P = 0.60) for OS. For patients treated with FEC → Doc and FEC → Doc/Gem, the 5-year probabilities of DFS were 86.6% and 87.2%, and the 5-year probabilities of OS were 92.8% and 92.5%, respectively.
CONCLUSION
Adding gemcitabine to a standard chemotherapy does not improve the outcomes in patients with high-risk early breast cancer and should therefore not be included in the adjuvant treatment setting.
TRIAL REGISTRATION
Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02181101 and EU Clinical Trials Register EudraCT 2005-000490-21. Registered September 2005.