West Midlands Oncology Association trials of adjuvant chemotherapy in operable breast cancer: results after a median follow-up of 7 years. II. Patients without involved axillary lymph nodes

The aim of this study was to test the effectiveness of a regimen of combination chemotherapy when given as an adjuvant treatment after mastectomy to patients with histologically negative axillary lymph nodes. A total of 574 patients with cancer of the breast and no involvement of axillary lymph nodes were randomised, after simple mastectomy with axillary sampling, to receive either no adjuvant treatment or oral fluorouracil 500 mg, methotrexate 25 mg and chlorambucil 10 mg p.o. on day 1 and fluorouracil 500 mg and chlorambucil 10 mg p.o. on day 2 (LMF) every 21 days for eight cycles. Randomisation was stratified according to menopausal status and tumour size. Treatment was started within 14 days of surgery in 97% of patients. Ninety per cent of patients received eight cycles of chemotherapy with no dose reduction. At a median follow-up of 7 years, there was no evidence that relapse-free or overall survival time were influenced by treatment.