[Mono- and poly-chemotherapy, adjuvant chemotherapy, and combined treatments of cancers in adults].
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Adult↗
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Results for “adjuvant chemotherapy”
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Postmastectomy radiotherapy and concomitant adjuvant chemotherapy versus adjuvant chemotherapy alone in premenopausal breast cancer patients with positive axillary nodes.
AIMS: To evaluate the efficacy of postmastectomy radiotherapy (RT) combined with adjuvant chemotherapy compared to adjuvant chemotherapy alone as regards overall survival (OS), overall disease-free survival (ODFS), local disease-free survival (LDFS) and distant disease-free survival (DDFS). METHODS: We reviewed retrospectively two non-randomized groups of premenopausal high-risk breast cancer patients treated from 1985 to 1990 in the following Institutions: Department of Radiation Oncology of Brescia University, "Istituto del Radio O. Alberti" (IRA), and Department of Oncology of Brescia Hospital "Beretta Foundation" (BF). A total of 163 patients was found to satisfy the criteria of the current analysis: 81 patients received adjuvant chemotherapy alone [6 cycles CMF(1-8)] at BF and 82 patients received postoperative radiotherapy and chemotherapy [8 cycles CMF(1-21)] at IRA. A modified CMF schedule was chosen at IRA to avoid the feared increase in toxicity due to the association with RT. Primary surgical treatment was modified radical mastectomy with axillary node dissection in both cases. RESULTS: A statistically significant improvement in OS was found in systemic adjuvant therapy patients compared to those also given RT (77.6% vs 59%; P = 0.0025). No statistically significant improvement in ODFS was found in the CMF(1-8) arm compared to the RT and CMF(1-21) stm: 51.6% vs 43.6%; P = 0.46. A statistically significant improvement in LDFS at 5 years was found in irradiated patients (89.3% vs 76.2%; P <0.05). The DDFS was also improved, although without evidence of statistical significance, in the CMF(1-8) group: at 5 years 65% vs 44% (P = 0.059). CONCLUSIONS: The study confirmed that RT reduces the risk of local recurrence but without a statistically significant reduction in mortality. The lack of a survival benefit may somehow reflect the dose reduction in CMF(1-21). The evidence that CMF(1-8) offers undoubtable advantages over the CMF(1-21) regimen in OS and, perhaps, in distant control suggests that the dose intensity of CMF in this setting may also be important. In fact, although many CMF(1-8) patients received a dose intensity lower than 100%, 95% of them received a dose intensity higher than the maximum one of the CMF(1-21) patients. Although our results should be interpreted with caution, they seem to provide further rationale for testing the association of postoperative radiotherapy and the CMF(1-8) regimen in stage II breast cancer with positive nodes and treated with demolitive surgery, as already done in the conservative management of breast cancer, also in view of the new support therapies now available (i.e. hematologic growth factors).
Adult↗
[Combined treatment of radiotherapy, neo-adjuvant chemotherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma].
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Adult↗
Molecular classification of breast cancer: implications for selection of adjuvant chemotherapy.
Adjuvant chemotherapy improves survival of patients with stage I-III breast cancer but it is being increasingly recognized that the benefit is not equal for all patients. Molecular characteristics of the cancer affect sensitivity to chemotherapy. In general, estrogen-receptor-negative disease is more sensitive to chemotherapy than estrogren-receptor-positive disease. Large-scale genomic analyses of breast cancer suggest that further molecular subsets may exist within the categories defined by hormone receptor status. It is hoped that the new molecular classification schemes might improve patient selection for therapy. Before any new molecular classification (or predictive test) is adopted for routine clinical use, however, several criteria need to be met. There must be an agreed and reproducible method by which to assign molecular class to a new case. Cancers that belong to different molecular classes must show differences in disease outcome and treatment efficacy that affect management and treatment selection. Also desirable are results from prospective clinical trials that demonstrate improved patient outcome when the new test is used in decision-making, compared with the current standard of care. This Review describes the current limitations and future promises of gene-expression-based molecular classification of breast cancer and how it might impact on selection of adjuvant therapy for individual patients.
Biomarkers, Tumor↗
Adjuvant chemotherapy for colorectal cancer.
Colorectal cancer is the second most common cancer in the Western world, and yet the survival after potentially curative excisional surgery has improved little over the last half century. Newer tumour prognostic markers are not superior to conventional Dukes' staging and there are currently no markers which predict response to chemotherapy. Adjuvant chemotherapy has had a chequered past, but recently a number of important prospective studies have demonstrated its proven benefit in patients with Dukes' stage C colorectal cancer. However, several issues still require clarification. (1) Do immunomodulators such as levamisole have a significant role in adjuvant chemotherapy? (2) Which patients derive most benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy? (3) Do prognostic markers have a role in predicting these patients? Approximately 30% of patients with Dukes' stage B cancers die of metastatic disease and the role of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with these tumours seems worth exploring. Only a large randomised trial can give answers to these important questions. Such a trial would also encourage the widespread introduction of standard methods of surgical and pathological assessment.
Chemotherapy, Adjuvant↗
[Respective indications for hormone therapy, induction chemotherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer without clinically discernable distant metastases].
Adjuvant therapy for breast cancer is an effective mean to reduce the likelihood of recurrence and to increase overall survival, as shown by the Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Group Overview. Although these benefits are clearly significant, they represent a modest improvement in the care of breast cancer. The role of pre-operative chemotherapy remains to be defined in early stage breast cancer. Otherwise, pre-operative chemotherapy has become 'standard of care' in locally advanced and inflammatory breast cancer. There are still several questions to be answered in the field of adjuvant and pre-operative chemotherapy. Prospective randomized clinical studies are the only way to obtain further therapeutic progress for this highly lethal disease.
Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal↗
Elderly breast cancer patients: adjuvant chemotherapy and adjuvant endocrine therapy.
Older women have unfortunately been underrepresented in breast cancer clinical trials, with the majority of studies being restricted to patients younger than 70 years. Elderly patients are an inhomogeneous group and frequently suffer from comorbidities and/or impaired organ functions. These facts may often lead to death from causes other than cancer, thus nullifying any possible benefit of adjuvant treatment; furthermore, they render extrapolation of standard treatment recommendations to the elderly potentially hazardous, particularly with respect to chemotherapy. Specific clinical trials are therefore needed to investigate adjuvant treatments tailored for the heterogeneous older population.
Adult↗
Postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy followed by adjuvant tamoxifen versus nil for patients with operable breast cancer: a randomised phase III trial of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Breast Group.
BACKGROUND: The contribution of adjuvant tamoxifen in breast cancer patients after receiving adjuvant chemotherapy is not fully established. We investigated the impact of tamoxifen, given sequentially after completion of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with operable breast cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between March 1991 and June 1999, 1863 women with stages I-IIIA operable breast cancer who had undergone surgery and completed six cycles of adjuvant combination chemotherapy with either CMF, CAF, CEF, FAC or FEC were randomised to receive either tamoxifen 20 mg daily for 3 years or no further treatment. Irrespective of menstrual status and hormone receptor content of the primary tumour, patients were stratified by institute, chemotherapy scheme and age (above 50 years or younger). The main end-point was to detect a 5% increase in the 5 year survival (from 80% to 85%) in favour of antioestrogen therapy. Secondary end-points were relapse free survival (RFS), local control, incidence of second primary breast cancer and correlation of results with hormone receptor content. RESULTS: After exclusion of all patients from three sites because of inadequate documentation, a total of 1724 patients (93%) were analysed (Tam 861 and Control 863). At a median follow-up of 6.5 years, 5-year RFS on tamoxifen was 73% versus 67% in controls (p=0.035). No difference was seen in overall survival. The benefit of tamoxifen therapy was mainly seen in the subgroup of patients with histologically documented positive axillary nodes (5-year RFS on tamoxifen 71% versus 64% in the control group, p=0.044) and in patients with tumours expressing the ER and PR positive phenotype (5-year RFS on tamoxifen 77% versus 70% in the control group, p=0.014). CONCLUSIONS: Tamoxifen administered for 3 years after completion of adjuvant chemotherapy in this otherwise unselected group of patients for endocrine sensitivity had a limited impact on relapse and had no detectable effect on overall survival. The beneficial effect of tamoxifen is mainly confined to the subgroup of patients with node-positive disease and to patients with tumours expressing the ER and PR positive phenotype.
Adult↗
S-phase fraction can predict event free survival in patients with pT2-T3N0M0 colorectal carcinoma: implications for adjuvant chemotherapy.
BACKGROUND: Adjuvant chemotherapy for colorectal carcinoma was found to improve survival of patients with American Joint Committee on Cancer/International Union Against Cancer Stage III disease. The usefulness of chemotherapy in patients with Stage II disease continues to be debated, and it is likely that only those patients with a poor prognosis should receive adjuvant chemotherapy. Biologic prognostic factors may allow further insight into the optimal treatment strategy for patients with Stage II or earlier disease. In this study the prognostic role of S-phase fraction (SPF) determined by flow cytometry was assessed in patients with Stage I-II colorectal carcinoma. METHODS: Specimens of surgically resected colorectal carcinoma were examined for SPF by flow cytometric DNA analysis. Consecutive patients referred to the study institution were considered eligible for this study. The main inclusion criteria were a Stage I-II tumor together with sufficient tumor material and adequate follow-up information. For each stage of disease, SPF data were associated with the recurrence rate and the disease free survival (DFS). RESULTS: Analysis was performed on 167 patients (65 with Stage I disease and 102 with Stage II disease). Among Stage I patients, SPF was high in 20 patients and low in 45 patients. In Stage II patients, there were 36 patients with low SPF and 66 patients with high SPF. In both stages, the recurrence rate and DFS were significantly worse for the subgroups of patients with high SPF. CONCLUSIONS: SPF has revealed prognostic differences among patients with surgically resected Stage I-II colorectal carcinoma. These data should be considered for planning future trials in the adjuvant setting because patients with high SPF may benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy.
Adult↗
Identification of patients with high-risk lymph node-negative colorectal cancer and potential benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy.
BACKGROUND: Adjuvant chemotherapy is not indicated in lymph node-negative colorectal adenocarcinoma (CRC), even though some cases will present recurrent disease. It is important to identify a subgroup of patients with the highest risk of relapse because of the potential benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy. The objective of this study is to define the prognostic factors and describe a method for the selection of this subgroup. METHODS: A retrospective cohort of 124 patients with lymph node-negative CRC with complete surgical resection was studied. Cox's proportional hazards model was used to define the prognostic factors associated with CRC-related survival and to develop a method for prediction of recurrence probability. RESULTS: The cohort included 62 women and 62 men with mean age 55.8 years. The mean follow-up period was 11.7 years. T classification of the primary tumor, differentiation grade, carcinoembryonic antigen level, gender and the presence of neural invasion were significant prognostic factors according to the multivariate analysis (final model P=0.00001). Using risk ratios for these prognostic factors, we defined a high-risk group of 78 patients and a low-risk group of 46 patients with 24 and 5 recurrences, respectively (recurrence rates of 30.8% and 10.9% respectively, P=0.011). CONCLUSIONS: Using these factors, a prognostic scale was developed to predict high risk of recurrence in cases of completely resected CRC and to identify them as a subgroup of patients with potential benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy.
Adenocarcinoma↗
A feasibility study of sequential paclitaxel and S-1 (PTX/S-1) chemotherapy as postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy for advanced gastric cancer.
BACKGROUND: The most frequent recurrence pattern of advanced gastric cancer is peritoneal dissemination. We investigated the safety of and compliance with sequential chemotherapy consisting of paclitaxel and S-1, both of which are effective in the treatment of peritoneal dissemination. METHODS: The patients in the study all had histologically proven gastric cancer, classified according to the TNM and the Japanese criteria for gastric cancer as T3-4, N0-2, P0, H0 M0, and CY0-1. In all patients, standard gastrectomy of more than a D2 dissection was performed. A dose of 80 mg/m2 of paclitaxel was administered for three courses. One course comprised weekly administration for 3 weeks, followed by a 1-week rest, except for the first course (following S-1 administration at 80 mg/m2 body surface area), in which paclitaxel was administered for only 2 weeks, followed by a 1-week rest. S-1 was administered from day 78 for four courses, with one course comprising 2 weeks' administration followed by a 1-week rest. Fifty patients received paclitaxel chemotherapy. The median age was 62.5 years overall; among the 34 male patients it was 65.5 years, and among the female patients it was 48.0 years. RESULTS: The patient compliance rate was 84%. There were no cases of grade 4 hematological toxicity during either paclitaxel or S-1 treatment. With respect to nonhematological toxicities, there was one case of grade 3 neuropathy during the course of paclitaxel treatment and one case of grade 3 diarrhea during the course of S-1 treatment. These patients recovered and completed the scheduled treatment regimen. CONCLUSION: Sequential chemotherapy of paclitaxel and S-1 as postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy for advanced gastric cancer is feasible.
Adult↗
International Collaborative Ovarian Neoplasm trial 1 and Adjuvant ChemoTherapy In Ovarian Neoplasm trial: two parallel randomized phase III trials of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with early-stage ovarian carcinoma.
BACKGROUND: Adjuvant chemotherapy has been suggested as a possible strategy to improve survival in women with early-stage ovarian cancer; however, all randomized studies to date have been too small to answer this question reliably. METHODS: We performed a preplanned combined analysis of two parallel randomized clinical trials (International Collaborative Ovarian Neoplasm 1 [ICON1] and Adjuvant ChemoTherapy In Ovarian Neoplasm [ACTION]) in early-stage ovarian cancer that compared platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy with observation following surgery. Between November 1990 and January 2000, 925 patients (477 in ICON1 and 448 in ACTION) who had surgery for early-stage ovarian cancer were randomly assigned to receive platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy (n = 465) or observation (n = 460) until chemotherapy was indicated. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to compare overall and recurrence-free survival by treatment allocation. In subgroup analyses of pretreatment age, tumor stage, histologic cell type, and differentiation grade, the differences in relative size of effect were tested using a chi-square test for interaction or a chi-square test for trend. All tests of statistical significance were two-sided. RESULTS: After a median follow-up of over 4 years, 245 patients had died or had a recurrence (ICON1: 133, ACTION: 112). Overall survival at 5 years was 82% in the chemotherapy arm and 74% in the observation arm (difference = 8% [95% confidence interval (CI) = 2% to 12%]; hazard ratio [HR] = 0.67, 95% CI = 0.50 to 0.90; P =.008). Recurrence-free survival at 5 years was also better in the adjuvant chemotherapy arm than it was in the observation arm (76% versus 65%, difference = 11% [95% CI = 5% to 16%]; HR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.50 to 0.82; P =.001). Subgroup analyses provided no evidence of a difference in the size of effect of chemotherapy on survival in any pretreatment subcategory. CONCLUSIONS: Platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy improved overall survival and recurrence-free survival at 5 years in this combined group of patients with early-stage ovarian cancer defined by the inclusion criteria of the ICON1 and ACTION trials.
Aged↗
Perioperative adjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer. The Scandinavian Adjuvant Chemotherapy Study 1.
In a randomized study of operable primary breast cancer patients initiated January 1965, 507 patients received one single course with cyclophosphamide 5 mg/kg/day for six days, first dose given immediately after mastectomy. The 519 control patients received no adjuvant chemotherapy. In other respects both groups were treated equally. Median follow-up time is 17.1 years. In terms of relapse-free percentage, the difference between the groups after 20 years is 13.5% in favour of the cyclophosphamide group. The difference is statistically highly significant. This benefit is observed in node positive as well as in node negative patients, and over as well as under 50 years. The immediate side effects of the cyclophosphamide course have been very moderate. No late complications have been observed. In a parallel randomized study with 110 patients where the same course was given 2-4 weeks after mastectomy, no benefit could be observed.
Aged↗
Adjuvant chemotherapy for localised resectable soft tissue sarcoma in adults. Sarcoma Meta-analysis Collaboration (SMAC).
BACKGROUND: Individually, randomised trilas have not shown conclusively whether adjuvant chemotherapy benefits adult patients with localised resectable soft-tissue sarcoma. OBJECTIVES: Adjuvant chemotherapy aims to lessen the recurrence of cancer after surgery with or without radiotherapy. The objective of this review was to assess the effects of adjuvant chemotherapy in adults with resectable soft tissue sarcoma after such local treatment. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, UKCCCR Register of Cancer Trials, Physicians Data Query, EMBASE, MEDLINE and CancerLit. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised trials of adjuvant chemotherapy after local treatment in adults with localised resectable soft tissue sarcoma were included. Only trials in which accrual was completed by December 1992 were included. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Individual patient data were obtained. Accuracy of data and quality of randomisation and follow-up of trials was assessed. MAIN RESULTS: Fourteen trials of doxorubicin-based adjuvant chemotherapy involving 1568 patients were included. Median follow-up was 9.4 years. For local recurrence-free interval the hazard ratio with chemotherapy was 0.73 (95% Confidence Interval 0.56-0.94). For distant recurrence-free interval it was 0. 70 (95% CI 0.57-0.85). For overall recurrence-free survival it was 0. 75 (95% CI 0.64-0.87). These correspond to significant absolute benefits of 6-10% at 10 years. For overall survival the hazard ratio of 0.89 (95% CI 0.76-1.03) was not significant but potentially represents an absolute benefit of 4% (95% CI -1 to 9) at 10 years. There was no consistent evidence of a difference in effect according to age, sex, stage, site, grade, histology, extent of resection, tumour size or exposure to radiotherapy. However, the strongest evidence of a beneficial effect on survival was shown in patients with sarcoma of the extremities. REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS: Doxorubicin-based adjuvant chemotherapy appears to significantly improve time to local and distant recurrence and overall recurrence-free survival in adults with localised resectable soft tissue sarcoma. There is some evidence of a trend towards improved overall survival.
Adult↗
Significant pelvic recurrence in high-risk pathologic stage I--IV endometrial carcinoma patients after adjuvant chemotherapy alone: implications for adjuvant radiation therapy.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the risk of pelvic recurrence (PVR) in high-risk pathologic Stage I--IV endometrial carcinoma patients after adjuvant chemotherapy alone. METHODS: Between 1992 and 1998, 43 high-risk endometrial cancer patients received adjuvant chemotherapy. All patients underwent primary surgery consisting of total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. No patients received preoperative radiation therapy (RT). Regional lymph nodes and peritoneal cytology were sampled in 62.8% and 83.7% of cases, respectively. Most patients had Stage III--IV disease (83.7%) or unfavorable histology tumors (74.4%). None had evidence of extra-abdominal disease. All patients received 4-6 cycles of chemotherapy as the sole adjuvant therapy, consisting primarily of cisplatin and doxorubicin. Recurrent disease sites were divided into pelvic (vaginal, nonvaginal) and extrapelvic (para-aortic, upper abdomen, liver, and extra-abdominal). Median follow-up was 27 months (range, 2--96 months). RESULTS: Twenty-nine women (67.4%) relapsed. Seventeen (39.5%) recurred in the pelvis and 23 (55.5%) in extrapelvic sites. The 3-year actuarial PVR rate was 46.5%. The most significant factors correlated with PVR were cervical involvement (CI) (p = 0.01) and adnexal (p = 0.05) involvement. Of the 17 women who developed a PVR, 8 relapsed in the vagina, 3 in the nonvaginal pelvis, and 6 in both. The 3-year vaginal and nonvaginal PVR rates were 37.8% and 26%, respectively. The most significant factor correlated with vaginal PVR was CI (p = 0.0007). Deep myometrial invasion (p = 0.02) and lymph nodal involvement (p = 0.03) were both correlated with nonvaginal PVR. Nine of the 29 relapsed patients (31%) developed PVR as their only (6) or first site (3) of recurrence. Factors associated with a higher rate of PVR (as the first or only site) were CI and Stage I--II disease. CONCLUSIONS: PVR is common in high-risk pathologic Stage I-IV endometrial cancer patients after adjuvant chemotherapy alone. These results support the continued use of locoregional RT in patients undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy. Further studies are needed to test the addition of chemotherapy to locoregional RT.
Adenocarcinoma↗
Impact of adjuvant chemotherapy and surgical staging in early-stage ovarian carcinoma: European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer-Adjuvant ChemoTherapy in Ovarian Neoplasm trial.
BACKGROUND: All randomized trials of adjuvant chemotherapy for early-stage ovarian cancer have lacked the statistical power to show a difference in the effect on survival between adjuvant chemotherapy and no adjuvant chemotherapy. They have also not taken into account the adequacy of surgical staging. We performed a prospective unblinded, randomized phase III trial to test the efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with early-stage ovarian cancer, with emphasis on the extent of surgical staging. METHODS: Between November 1990 and January 2000, 448 patients from 40 centers in nine European countries were randomly assigned to either adjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy (n = 224) or observation (n = 224) following surgery. Endpoints were overall survival and recurrence-free survival, and the analysis was on an intention-to-treat basis. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to perform time-to-event analysis, and the log-rank test was used to compare differences between treatment arms. Statistical tests were two-sided. RESULTS: After a median follow-up of 5.5 years, the difference in overall survival between the two trial arms was not statistically significant (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.69, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.44 to 1.08; P =.10). Recurrence-free survival, however, was statistically significantly improved in the adjuvant chemotherapy arm (HR = 0.63, 95% CI = 0.43 to 0.92; P =.02). Approximately one-third of patients (n = 151) had been optimally staged and two-thirds (n = 297) had not. Among patients in the observation arm, optimal staging was associated with a statistically significant improvement in overall and recurrence-free survival (HR = 2.31 [95% CI = 1.08 to 4.96]; P =.03 and HR = 1.82 [95% CI = 1.02 to 3.24] P =.04, respectively). No such association was observed in the chemotherapy arm. In the non-optimally staged patients, adjuvant chemotherapy was associated with statistically significant improvements in overall and recurrence-free survival (HR = 1.75 [95% CI = 1.04 to 2.95]; P =.03 and HR = 1.78 [95% CI = 1.15 to 2.77]; P =.009, respectively). In the optimally staged patients, no benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy was seen. CONCLUSION: Adjuvant chemotherapy was associated with statistically significantly improved recurrence-free survival in patients with early-stage ovarian cancer. The benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy appeared to be limited to patients with non-optimal staging, i.e., patients with more risk of unappreciated residual disease.
Adult↗
Systemic doxorubicin and intraarterial cisplatin preoperative chemotherapy plus postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with osteosarcoma.
The role of adjuvant chemotherapy for osteosarcoma has been well defined. Recently, the use of preoperative chemotherapy has been further enhanced by the use of intraarterial cisplatin. The authors describe the use and results of systemic doxorubicin and intraarterial cisplatin as a preoperative regimen for eight pediatric patients with nonmetastatic osteosarcoma of an extremity. The therapy was well tolerated. Six patients achieved satisfactory local tumor control and were able to receive the surgical procedure to permit limb salvage. Two of these six patients subsequently developed metastatic disease. Of the two patients who did not achieve satisfactory local tumor control to permit a limb salvage procedure, both underwent amputation and one later developed metastatic disease. Five patients have remained continuously free of disease for a median of 18 months (range, 12-21 months). This report confirms the observations that intraarterial cisplatin and doxorubicin can be used as a safe and effective regimen preoperatively for pediatric patients with osteosarcoma of an extremity.
Adolescent↗
[Use of xenografts for the evaluation of tumor chemotherapy. Application to adjuvant chemotherapy].
Man-mouse xenografts have been widely used to assess the therapeutic activity of carcinostatic drugs on human malignant cells. Xenotransplantation greatly benefited of the use of athymic nude mice and of thymectomized isogenic radiation-chimaeras. However xenografts are still frequently rejected and their growth rate remains low at least for the initial passages. In spite of these limitations they constitute an interesting material which retain most of the characteristics of the original tumour. With few exceptions these grafts express the same sensitivity to chemotherapy as the original tumour and they may therefore provide valuable information in this respects. Unfortunately the long delay of about 5 months necessary to establish a transplantable line and to stabilize its growth parameters limits the use of xenografts in adjuvant chemotherapy. Thus the information brought by the xenografts may at best help in modifying the on-going treatment.
Animals↗