The management of breast cancer requires the judicious use of cytotoxic therapy, hormone therapy, radiotherapy, analgesics, and other forms of physical and psychological support for optimal palliation of symptoms and prolongation of survival. Patients with low-risk metastatic breast cancer often benefit from hormone therapy as initial management; other patients are best treated with early intro...

Anthracycline action has been thought to involve the neosynthesis of proapoptotic gene products and to therefore depend on protein synthesis for optimal effect. We found that inhibition of general, but not rapamycin-sensitive (cap-dependent), protein synthesis in the preapoptotic period enhanced anthracycline-induced acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) cell death, both in vitro and in several anim...

Background A growing number of patients with cancer are at risk from chronic anthracycline cardiotoxicity (cAC) as a result of improving cancer prognosis. Although susceptibility is cumulative dose-related, it is also idiosyncratic. Furthermore, at present there is no way to reliably identify those at risk. The common practice of serially measuring LV ejection fraction (LVEF) only identifies ca...

A synthesis of anthracycline aglycone derivatives is described. The key step utilizes a powerful domino carbopalladation approach and subsequent ring closure. During this process two of the four rings of the anthracycline scaffold are formed. Differently substituted carbohydrates and dialkyne chains serve as versatile and simple starting materials for the reaction sequence. Diverse building blo...

A critical review of the role of anthracyclines in the management of adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia was performed to define current indications for their use. Major pertinent clinical series were reviewed with reference to anthracycline type, cumulative dosage and dose intensity, and administration schedule during both induction therapy and postremission consolidation, compari...

Radiation therapy to the thorax may induce early and late cardiac adverse effects if large parts of the heart have been included in the irradiation field and particularly if anthracycline-containing chemotherapy is concomitantly administered. We describe 3 cases of cardiotoxicity in patients with left breast cancer treated with anthracycline-containing chemotherapy and left thoracic radiotherap...

1026 Background: Predictive markers of response to chemotherapy are lacking in breast cancer patients. Preclinical data suggest that breast cancer cells that loose expression of Foxp3 gene develop resistance to anthracyclines but not to taxane. However, only few conflicting clinical data are available. Using Foxp3 labelling we tested the hypothesis that adjuvant chemotherapy incorporating docet...

PURPOSE Anthracyclines and taxanes are the most active agents in the adjuvant treatment of breast cancer (BC). They can be used simultaneously or sequentially. The optimal schedule and duration for their administration is unknown. We analyzed the efficacy of sequential adjuvant anthracycline and docetaxel administration in node positive BC patients. METHODS Node positive BC patients (N=539) f...