Combination Therapy Improves Odds For Older Patients
The New England Journal of Medicine published a study in May, 2009 which indicates that older women who receive a combination of chemotherapy drugs have improved survival rates. This study specifically targeted older women with early-stage breast cancer and shows that chemotherapy can make a difference.
The study included 600 women with stage I, II, IIIA, or IIIB breast cancer. They were divided into two groups. The standard group was given a standard treatment consisting of either cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluouracil (CMF) or doxorubicin-cyclophosphaide. The control group was treated with only capecitabine.
The study found that those treated in the standard group had better results that those in the control group. Patients in the control group were twice as likely to relapse.
Studies of older women are very important, given that the average age of a woman diagnosed with breast cancer is 63. Another important step in these types of studies will be to find an effective oral medication for multi-drug treatments, due to the fact that patients tend to prefer oral chemotherapy over intravenous.