Dose-Dense Adjuvant Chemotherapy with Epirubicin Monotherapy in Patients with Operable Breast Cancer and ≥10 Positive Axillary Lymph Nodes

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Abstract
Forty-one patients with operable breast cancer and ≥10 positive axillary lymph nodes were treated with 6 cycles of dose-dense adjuvant chemotherapy consisting of epirubicin (100 mg/m2) every 2 weeks with G-CSF support. A total of 240 cycles were administered, all of them at full dose and 19 (8%) with a delay. Thirty-eight (93%) patients completed the treatment according to the protocol. The relative dose intensity of epirubicin was 0.99. Grade 3 toxicities included anemia (3%), nausea and vomiting (5%) and alopecia (71%). After a median follow-up of 40 months, 16 (39%) patients were free of relapse. In conclusion, the present study has shown that the administration of dose-dense chemotherapy with epirubicin is feasible in the adjuvant setting with minimal toxicity.