The role of chemotherapy in early breast cancer patients

Chemotherapy (Cht) improves survival in all subsets of early breast cancer (EBC) pts and anthracycline-based Cht is considered a standard adjuvant systemic therapy nowadays. During the last few years progress was made through the incorporation of taxanes into treatment schedules, the manipulation of dose of cytotoxics and through the combined use of trastuzumab and Cht. The addition of taxanes to anthracycline-based Cht resulted in significantly lower risk of relapse in 6 large trials (BCIRG 001, ECOG 2197, PACS 01, GEICAM, CALGB 9344 and NSABP B28) with more than 4.5 year follow-up. However, in only three out o…