Phase III Study of Doxorubicin/Cyclophosphamide With Concomitant Versus Sequential Docetaxel As Adjuvant Treatment in Patients With Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2–Normal, Node-Positive Breast Cancer: BCIRG-005 Trial

Purpose Anthracyclines, taxanes, and alkylating agents are among the most active agents in treatment of adjuvant breast cancer (BC), but the optimal schedule for their administration is unknown. We performed an adjuvant trial to compare the sequential regimen of doxorubicin with cyclophosphamide (AC) followed by docetaxel (ie, AC>T) with the combination regimen of TAC. Patients and Methods Women with node-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2–nonamplified, operable BC were stratified by number of axillary nodes and hormone receptor status and were randomly assigned to adjuvant chemotherapy with six cycles of TAC (75/50/500 mg/m2 every 3 weeks) or four cycles of AC (60/600 mg/m2 every 3 weeks) followed by four doses of docetaxel at 100 mg/m2 every 3 weeks (AC>T). After completion of chemotherapy, radiation therapy was given as indicated, and patients with hormone receptor (HR) –positive disease received adjuvant hormonal therapy with tamoxifen and/or aromatase inhibitors. Results In 30 months,...