Purpose: To investigate the long-term survival of premenopausal women with previously untreated first recurrence or metastases of breast cancer entered on Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) study 2177 (EST 2177), which completed accrual in June 1983.
Materials and methods: One hundred forty-seven premenopausal women with metastatic breast cancer were entered onto the study. Eighty-nine patients with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive and ER-unknown disease were randomized to receive cyclophosphamide (CTX), doxorubicin (ADR), and fluorouracil (FU) (CAF) or surgical oophorectomy plus CAF (O+CAF). Fifty-eight patients with known ER-negative disease were treated with CAF. Survival time was measured from the time of study entry. Randomization was stratified by performance status (PS), dominant metastatic site, and ER status.
Results: One hundred thirty patients were eligible. The median survival time of randomized patients was 35 months (90% confidence interval, 28.9 to 54.3), with 28% alive at 5 years. The overall median survival duration, including ER-negative patients, was 30 months. There was no significant difference in survival time between the randomized treatments (median, 42 months for O+CAF and 30 months for CAF). In models of survival time, age > or = 45 years and last menstruation within 1 month were associated with significantly longer survival (P < .004 for each). There were also three significant interactions with treatment (even after correction for multiple comparisons): age (P = .00009; O+CAF associated with longer survival in patients < 45 years, CAF associated with longer survival in patients > 45 years), PS (P = .002; O+CAF associated with consistently better survival in PS O patients), and disease-free interval (DFI).
Conclusion: Long-term follow-up data of premenopausal women with metastatic breast cancer show a longer than expected median survival time at 2.5 years overall and close to 5 years for patients treated with O+CAF who were ER-positive or had a good PS.