Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Chemotherapy, JAMA, Karolinski Institute / 09.11.2016
How Does Tailoring Chemotherapy Affect Breast Cancer Survival?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Jonas Bergh M.D, Ph.D. F.R.C.P. (London, UK)
Professor of Oncology (Mimi Althainz´donation)
Director Strategic Research Program in Cancer
Karolinska Institutet
Radiumhemmet, Karolinska University Hospital
Stockholm, Swede
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Present standard dosing of chemotherapy is aiming at a similar dose for each individual (similar effects and side-effects) , by calculating the dose per mg/m2 based on a formula originally established by du Bois (1916), based on body surface calculations by measuring height and weight. As I recall it, this was done on nine individuals…
However, the body surface has very little to do with how you cytotoxic drugs are metabolized and excreted… in practice this means that chemotherapy dosing based on body surface area will result in under- or overdosing of quite a proposition of the patients… Please Google/run a PubMed research on H. Gurney in Australia, he and other have really expressed their concerns with our present chemotherapy dosing strategies.
In our prospective adjuvant chemotherapy study of high risk breast cancer patients we tested a very well established standard chemotherapy regimen given every third week (FEC100 mg/m2 x 3+ docetaxel 100 mg/m2 x3) vs. our experimental arm given very second week in a dose dense fashion. We also tried to optimize the dosing, aiming at avoiding overdosing some patients at the first course and increase the dose for those without predefined toxicities. Therapy duration was similar in both groups, 15 weeks. Please see the end of the discussion in JAMA for the shortcomings with our study.
(more…)