Dose-dense chemo vs. conventional?
Meet the Experts
Kathy D. Miller, M.D. is associate professor of medical oncology at Indiana University, and a Sheila D. Ward Scholar.
Marisa Weiss, M.D. is a radiation oncologist specializing in breast cancer and the founder, president, and guiding force behind Breastcancer.org.
Question from Website Question: How does dose-dense chemotherapy compare to conventional?
- Answer —Kathy Miller, M.D.: Dose-dense chemotherapy means giving the same dose of chemotherapy with shorter intervals. There is one large study reported at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Meeting that compared Adriamycin and Cytoxan followed by Taxol given either every three weeks or every two weeks (at the dose-dense schedule). Giving the chemotherapy every two weeks requires the support of growth factors like Neupogen or Neulasta so the blood counts will be high enough for treatment every two weeks.
In that study, the women who received the dose-dense chemotherapy had fewer recurrences of their breast cancer and a slightly greater chance of surviving their breast cancer than women treated with the every-three-week schedule. Because everyone who got dose-dense chemotherapy was treated with growth factors, there were also fewer infections. Of course, one obvious advantage of the dose-dense schedule is that patients finish all their chemotherapy faster.
Dose-dense therapy is certainly not appropriate for everyone. This study was only in node-positive patients. It's also important to remember that this is only one study. Other studies evaluating the dose-dense regimen are needed to confirm these results, and an ongoing trial coordinated by the National Cancer Institute of Canada is studying the dose-dense schedule as well. If this trial finds similar results, I think you will see the dose-dense regimen much more commonly used.
On Wednesday, June 16, 2004, our Ask-the-Expert Online Conference was called Updates from the 2004 ASCO Annual Meeting. Kathy D. Miller, M.D. and Marisa Weiss, M.D. answered your questions about the latest research advances presented at the 2004 meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).
The materials presented in these conferences do not necessarily reflect the views of breastcancer.org. A qualified healthcare professional should be consulted before using any therapeutic product or regimen discussed. All readers should verify all information and data before employing any therapies described here.
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