Findings from “Patterns of docetaxel application in breast cancer patients from China: Experience in 42 cancer centers” show that docetaxel is widely used for treating breast cancer, especially as adjuvant and/or neoadjuvant therapy. Binghe Xu, MD, PhD, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China, presented results from the study.

This retrospective review was carried out in China from 2009 to 2011 [Xu B et al. J Clin Oncol 2012 (suppl; abstr e115637)]. The aim of the study was to investigate how patients with breast cancer are treated with docetaxel. It included all patients diagnosed with invasive breast cancer and treated with docetaxel-containing regimens in 42 cancer centers from 12 provinces in China. Regimens were compared in different subgroups based on stage, subtype, and lymph node (LN) status. Patterns of chemotherapy were also compared with published guidelines.

Among 2188 breast cancer patients (mean age, 48.7 years; range, 14 to 82 years) treated with docetaxel, 1881 (86.0%) were in an adjuvant and/or neoadjuvant setting (including 91 in both settings). Only 288 (13.2%) patients received docetaxel as a single agent; 1900 (86.8%) received docetaxel-containing combination regimens. The mean cycle administered was 4.8, and the dose for every cycle was 73.0 mg/m2. Dose reduction and delay occurred in 409 (19.0%) patients, caused mainly by nonmedical factors (10.9%) and hematologic toxicity (5.9%).

Docetaxel, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide (TAC), docetaxel/doxorubicin (TA), docetaxel and cyclophosphamide (TC), docetaxel (TX), and doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide followed by docetaxel (AC-T) regimens were given in 34.8%, 19.7%, 17.4%, 5.3%, and 2.2% of patients, respectively. TAC was used more frequently in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cases than in other types (43.0% vs 32.7%; p=0.004). In the (neo)adjuvant setting, TAC was used more frequently in LN-positive than LN-negative patients (44.2% versus 30.0%; p<0.001). Of 1682 patients in the adjuvant setting, 729 (43.3%) were treated with triplet (TAC or AC-T) regimens. Of 290 patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy, 94 (32.4%) received TAC and none received AC-T (p=0.013) Although most guidelines recommend AC-T in adjuvant settings, investigators found that the TAC regimen was used most frequently in China, especially in patients with TNBC or LN-positive breast cancer.