ELLENCE in Breast
Cancer Treatment Shows Low Risk of Heart Damage
Behind the Cancer Headlines®
Data published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology shows that two chemotherapy regimens using different doses of ELLENCE are associated with a low risk of heart damage in women with breast cancer.
This is the first sub-study to evaluate patients more than eight years after they completed adjuvant treatment with ELLENCE and builds upon results of the FASG-05 study which demonstrated significant 5 and 10 year disease-free and overall survival benefits in patients treated with ELLENCE, an anthracycline cytotoxic agent.
As a result of overall improvements in the treatment of many
types of cancer, there are nearly 10 million cancer survivors in
"Past research indicates that because of its safety
profile, including its cardiac safety, ELLENCE is emerging as a standard
treatment for women with early-stage breast cancer," said Aman Buzdar, professor of
medicine, Department of Breast Medical Oncology, University of
Cardiotoxicity is a harmful side effect that may be caused by breast cancer chemotherapy agents such as anthracyclines.
In this sub-study, which was funded by Pharmacia Corporation, now part of Pfizer Inc., investigators evaluated the long-term effects of two different doses of ELLENCE on cardiotoxicity – a standard dose of 50 mg/m2 and a higher dose of 100 mg/m2.
Other recent studies have suggested that higher doses of some chemotherapy agents could improve both disease-free and overall survival. However, the doses received by some patients have been limited by concerns of developing cardiotoxicity which may lead to congestive heart failure (CHF). Meta-analyses have shown that ELLENCE may be associated with less cardiotoxicity than other agents in its class.
SOURCES:
Journal of Clinical Oncology, August 2004