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Comparative Study
. 2013 Feb 19;108(3):549-56.
doi: 10.1038/bjc.2012.597. Epub 2013 Jan 17.

Differential effect of adjuvant taxane-based and taxane-free chemotherapy regimens on the CK-19 mRNA-positive circulating tumour cells in patients with early breast cancer

N Xenidis  1 , M Perraki, S Apostolaki, S Agelaki, K Kalbakis, N Vardakis, A Kalykaki, A Xyrafas, S Kakolyris, D Mavroudis, V Georgoulias
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Differential effect of adjuvant taxane-based and taxane-free chemotherapy regimens on the CK-19 mRNA-positive circulating tumour cells in patients with early breast cancer

N Xenidis et al. Br J Cancer. .

Abstract

Background: To determine the effect of adjuvant taxane-free and taxane-based chemotherapy regimens on the elimination of circulating tumour cells (CTCs) in patients with early breast cancer.

Methods: The presence of CK-19 mRNA-positive CTCs in the peripheral blood was evaluated before and after chemotherapy, using a real-time RT-PCR assay, in a historical comparison of two cohorts of women with stage I-III breast cancer treated with adjuvant taxane-free (N=211; FE(75)C or E(75)C) and taxane-based (N=334; T/E(75)C or T/E(75)) chemotherapy.

Results: Taxane-based chemotherapy resulted in a higher incidence of CTCs' elimination than taxane-free regimens since 49.7% (74 of 149) and 33.0% (29 of 88) of patients with detectable CTCs before chemotherapy, respectively, turned negative post-chemotherapy (P=0.015). Patients treated with taxane-free regimens had a significantly lower disease-free survival (DFS) (P=0.035) than patients treated with taxane-based regimens; this difference was observed in patients with but not without detectable CTCs before chemotherapy (P=0.018 and P=0.481, respectively). The incidence of deaths was significantly higher in the taxane-free cohort of patients with but not without detectable CTCs before chemotherapy compared with that of the taxane-based cohort (P=0.002). Multivariate analysis revealed that the chemotherapy regimen was significantly associated with prolonged DFS (HR: 2.00; 95% CI=1.20-3.34).

Conclusion: Elimination of CK-19 mRNA-positive CTCs during adjuvant chemotherapy seems to be an efficacy indicator of treatment and is associated with a favourable clinical outcome of patients with detectable CTCs before chemotherapy.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Disease-free survival according to chemotherapy regimen.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Disease-free survival according to chemotherapy regimen in patients with (A) and without (B) CK-19 mRNA-positive cells before chemotherapy.
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