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 The trial, conducted at the University of Birmingham,
has found that adding Epirubicin to established chemotherapy drugs
can noticeably improve survival rates in early stage breast cancer,
reducing the risk of death by up to 30%.
Researchers from the University of Birmingham’s Cancer
Clinical Trials Unit, designed a large clinical trial to assess
whether the addition of Epirubicin had a significant impact on the
recurrence of tumours as well as overall survival rates over a long
period of time (4 years); the study also provided important new
information on how to deliver optimal doses of chemotherapy to
patients.
The trial involved more than 2000 women from 65 centres across the
UK and compared the established combination of chemotherapy drugs
(CMF) with CMF chemotherapy in combination with four cycles of
Epirubicin (ECMF). Epirubicin is an anthracycline, which kills
cancer cells in a different way from traditional chemotherapy
drugs.
Results showed that the addition of Epirubicin to chemotherapy
improved rates of relapse free survival by 30% over CMF. More
significantly, this improvement remained significant after 2 and 4
years of follow up.
Interviewees:
Dr Christopher Poole, Senior Lecturer in Medical
Oncology, University of Birmingham
Dr Lucinda Billingham, Head of Bio Statistics,
Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit, University of
Birmingham
Footage:
-GVs Birmingham Women’s Hospital
-GVs Patients receiving Chemotherapy
-GVs Patient undergoing MRI scan
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