Dose-dense adjuvant chemotherapy for node-positive breast cancer in women 60 years and older: Feasibility and tolerability in a subset of patients in a randomized trial

Abstract To evaluate the feasibility and tolerability of dose-dense adjuvant chemotherapy for older patients with node-positive breast cancer, a retrospective subset analysis compared dose delays and dose reductions for women aged ≥60 years with those of younger women. Patients were randomized to a dose-dense (DD, 14-day cycle) or conventional-schedule (CS, 21-day cycle) regimen. DD patients ( n  = 104; 25 aged ≥60 years) received epirubicin 90 mg/m 2 plus paclitaxel 175 mg/m 2 (four cycles), then cyclophosphamide 600 mg/m 2 , methotrexate 40 mg/m 2 and fluorouracil 600 mg/m 2 (CMF 600/40/600) (three cycles), plus filgrastim 5 μg/kg per day in every cycle. CS patients ( n  = 107; 27 aged ≥60 years) received epirubicin 90 mg/m 2 plus cyclophosphamide 600 mg/m 2 (four cycles), then CMF 600/40/600 (three cycles), plus filgrastim if required. Delays were more common in older patients in both the DD and CS groups (DD, 17% versus 6%; CS, 11% versus 6%), as were Grades 3–4 leukopenia (26% versus 12%) and neutropenia (33% versus 25%). All older DD and 89% of older CS patients received all seven chemotherapy cycles, with 99% of cycles at full dose. This study demonstrates that a dose-dense regimen combining epirubicin and paclitaxel can be administered to patients ≥60 years of age with a tolerable safety profile.