Multidisciplinary curative treatment for disseminated carcinoma of the breast

Eighty-four patients with disseminated breast carcinoma were treated with the combination of hormonal therapy and combination chemotherapy from the time of diagnosis. Hormonal treatment included castration for women still menstruating, estrogens for women menopausal for greater than 5 years, and androgens or progesterone for women menopausal for less than 5 years. Combination chemotherapy consisted of monthly 5-day courses of 5-fluorouracil (500 mg/day, Days 1-5), cyclophosphamide (300 mg/day, Days 1 and 4), vincristine (1 mg/day, Days 2 and 5), and methotrexate (100 mg, Day 1) followed by citrovorum factor (12 mg/day, Days 2 and 3). The overall response rate was 83.3%: 43 CRs (51%) and 27 PRs. The median survival time was 17 months: 6 months for the failures, 12 months for the 27 PRs, and 27 months for the 43 CRs. Fifteen patients with CR are still alive: one after 16 months, one after 17 months, two after 19 months, and one each after 23, 24, 25, 31, 35, 37, 38, 43, 48, 68 and 70 months.