Antitumor effect of combination of cyclophosphamide, adriamycin and platinum (CAP) versus cyclophosphamide, adriamycin and 5-fluorouracil (CAF) in metastatic breast cancer.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the antitumor effect of two drug combinations in disseminated breast cancer. Eighty-one patients divided into two groups entered this nonrandomized study. Group 1 included 32 patients treated with CAP combination: Cyclophosphamide--200 mg/m2 on days 1, 3 and 5 + adriamycin--40 mg/m2 on day 1 + cisplatin--30 mg/m2 on days 1, 3 and 5. Group 2 included 49 patients treated with CAF combination: Cyclophosphamide--100 mg/m2 on days 1 to 14 + adriamycin--30 mg/m2 on days 1 and 8 + 5-fluorouracil--500 mg/m2 on days 1 and 8. All patients had at least 2 courses of chemotherapy. In Group 1 the remission rate was 50% (16 patients) including 3 complete (9%) and 13 partial remissions (41%). In Group 2 the remission rate was 39% (18 patients) with 8 complete (16%) and 10 partial remissions (23%). The analysis of duration of the remissions showed a tendency towards longer duration after treatment with CAP combination (25 versus 15 months for the complete remissions, and 14 versus 11 months for the partial remissions).