The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 274 No 7350 p605
21 May 2005

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Doxorubicin-docetaxel toxicity stops breast cancer trial early

Combination therapy with doxorubicin and docetaxel for breast cancer was associated with a high risk of life-threatening complications and led to premature termination of a trial involving 627 women.

There were two deaths related to drug toxicity and one to perforative peritonitis among patients with febrile neutropenia in the doxorubicin-docetaxel group. The incidence of febrile neutropenia was higher in the doxorubicin-docetaxel group (40.8 per cent) than the doxorubicin-cyclophosphamide group (7.1 per cent) (JAMA 2005;293:2367).