[Equalization of breast cancer chemotherapy at general hospital( II )-evaluation of safety in FEC and TC regimens].

The safety of epirubicin (75 mg/m(2)), 5-fluorouracil (500 mg/m(2)) plus cyclophosphamide (500 mg/m(2)) (FEC75 therapy) and docetaxel (75 mg/m(2)) plus cyclophosphamide (600 mg/m(2)) (TC therapy) every three weeks as neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy was evaluated. Six or 9 patients received FEC75 or TC therapy, respectively. The nadir of white blood cells and neutrocyte counts in FEC75 and TC therapy were after 11-15 days and 8-11 days of chemotherapy, respectively. On the other hand, those of monocyte and reticulocyte counts were after 8-11 and 4-8 days for FEC75 and TC therapy, respectively. This suggests that there is a lag time in these parameters for the evaluation of myelosuppression in each chemotherapy regimen, resulting in the prediction of the degree of myelotoxicity by these profiles. Although 2 patients who received TC therapy encountered febrile neutropenia, the symptoms were improved by quinolones, and so granulocyte colony-stimulating factor was not needed. In addition, remarkable non-hematological side effects were not observed, and, therefore, almost all chemotherapy was performed as scheduled. From these results, FEC75 and TC therapy are considered to be safe.