Adjuvant treatment in operable breast cancer.

The object of Ludwig III was to assess adjuvant therapy after total mastectomy and axillary clearance in postmenopausal women with breast cancer and axillary node metastases. Chemo-endocrine therapy (cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, 5-fluorouracil, prednisone and tamoxifen: CMFp + T) was compared with endocrine therapy (prednisone and tamoxifen: p + T) and with no adjuvant treatment in 463 evaluable patients aged 65 years or less. Treatment results are available (Ludwig Breast Cancer Study Group, Lancet i (1984) 1256-1260). Nodal status and receptor content of the primary were found to have prognostic value, while tumor size did not.