Key clinical point: Breast cancer (BC) recurrence rates are lower among patients treated with the combination of anthracycline and taxane compared with a taxane regimen without anthracycline or an anthracycline-based regimen without taxane.
Major finding: Anthracycline plus taxane reduced the rate of BC recurrence by 14% (rate ratio [RR] 0.86; P = .0004) compared with taxane only and by 13% (RR 0.87; P < .0001) compared with anthracycline only. The highest benefit was observed among patients receiving anthracycline concurrently with docetaxel+cyclophosphamide vs docetaxel+cyclophosphamide only (RR 0.58; P < .0001).
Study details: Findings are from a meta-analysis including more than 100,000 women with early-stage BC from 86 trials on anthracycline- and taxane-based chemotherapies.
Disclosures: This study is funded by Cancer Research UK. The authors declared receiving grants, payments, honoraria, consulting fees, or travel support from or having other ties with various sources.
Source: Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group. Anthracycline-containing and taxane-containing chemotherapy for early-stage operable breast cancer: A patient-level meta-analysis of 100 000 women from 86 randomised trials. Lancet. 2023;401(10384):1277-1292 (Apr 15). Doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(23)00285-4