The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 277 No 7421 p416
7 October 2006

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No harm delaying chemotherapy for 12 weeks

Adjuvant chemotherapy that starts up to 12 weeks after surgery for breast cancer is as effective as that starting less than four or eight weeks after, a retrospective review suggests.

Canadian researchers examined the relapse-free survival and overall survival rates of 2,594 patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy (for stage I and II breast cancer). Patients were divided into four groups according to the time from surgery to start of adjuvant chemotherapy (<=4 weeks, 4–8 weeks, 8–12 weeks and >12 weeks). Relapse-free survival and overall survival rates were similar for the groups of women starting chemotherapy up to 12 weeks after surgery.

However, those whose chemotherapy was started after 12 weeks tended to have lower overall survival rates.