Neoadjuvant chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin and 5-fluorouracil (CAF) or cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and 5-fluorouracil (CMF) in 69 cases of locally advanced (stage IIIb) breast cancer.

Sixty nine patients with a median age of 45 years, 62.3 per cent of whom were premenopausal, with locally advanced breast cancer (T 4, N 0-3, M 0; Stage IIIb) were treated with 3 cycles of either neoadjuvant cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin and 5-fluorouracil, being the CAF group: 36 patients, or cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and 5-fluorouracil, being the CMF group: 33 patients. Patients achieving complete response or with residual disease of less than 2 cm in diameter received radical radiotherapy while those with more residual disease underwent radical mastectomy. Nine cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy were administered. Complete responses and disease control by radiotherapy with complete breast preservation were more frequently observed after CAF than CMF, being 25 per cent vs 3 per cent (p = 0.025) and 48.5 per cent vs 12 per cent (p = 0.002), respectively. Overall response rates, adverse effects, disease control following radiotherapy/surgery, local relapses and metastases were similar for both regimes. Relapsing patients were young, with a median age of 38 years, 68.4 per cent of relapses occurred at metastatic sites and 42 per cent of relapses occurred during adjuvant chemotherapy. This study suggests that in locally advanced breast cancer, a greater proportion of patients can be rendered disease free after neoadjuvant CAF and radiotherapy compared to neoadjuvant CMF and radiotherapy.