How effective is adjuvant cancer chemotherapy? Lucy Wortham James Clinical Research Award

Some of the breast cancer chemotherapy trials conducted during the past 25 years were reviewed. In general, most authors noted a significantly improved disease-free survival and overall survival in premenopausal patients but not in postmenopausal patients. Considering all patients, most authors found a significant increase in the disease-free survival but not in overall survival. In one study, the relapse rate increased with time. In the first three years, the relapse rate in the control group greatly exceeded that in the treatment group, but as the years went on, this trend reversed, and an increasing percentage of the treated group had relapse. More time is required to draw firm conclusions.