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The SBG 2000-1 trial is a randomised study that investigates if dose-tailored adjuvant FEC therapy based on the individual's leukocyte nadir value can improve outcome. The study has included 1535 women with medium and high-risk breast cancer. Patients and methods. After a first standard dosed FEC course (5-fluorouracil 600 mg/m2, epirubicin 60 mg/mg2 and cyclophosphamide 600 mg/m2), patients who did not reach leukopenia grade III or IV were randomised to standard doses (group standard) or doses tailored to achieve grade III leukopenia (group tailored) at courses 2--7. Patients who achieved leukopenia grade III or more after the first course were not randomised but continued on standard doses (group registered). Results. Both planned and actually delivered number of courses (seven) were the same in all three arms. The relative dose intensity was increased by a factor of 1.31 (E 1.22, C 1.43) for patients in the tailored arm compared to the expected on standard dose. Ninety percent of the patients in the tailored arm achieved leukopenia grade III--IV compared with 29% among patients randomised to standard dosed therapy. Dose tailoring was associated with acceptable acute non-haematological toxicity with more total alopecia, nausea, vomiting and fatigue. Conclusion. Dose tailoring according to leukopenia was feasible. It led to an increased dose intensity and was associated with acceptable excess of acute non-haematological toxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The authors consider whether differences in stage at diagnosis could explain the variation in lung cancer survival between six developed countries in 2004-2007., Methods: Routinely collected population-based data were obtained on all adults (15-99 years) diagnosed with lung cancer in 2004-2007 and registered in regional and national cancer registries in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the UK. Stage data for 57 352 patients were consolidated from various classification systems. Flexible parametric hazard models on the log cumulative scale were used to estimate net survival at 1 year and the excess hazard up to 18 months after diagnosis., Results: Age-standardised 1-year net survival from non-small cell lung cancer ranged from 30% (UK) to 46% (Sweden). Patients in the UK and Denmark had lower survival than elsewhere, partly because of a more adverse stage distribution. However, there were also wide international differences in stage-specific survival. Net survival from TNM stage I non-small cell lung cancer was 16% lower in the UK than in Sweden, and for TNM stage IV disease survival was 10% lower. Similar patterns were found for small cell lung cancer., Conclusions: There are comparability issues when using population-based data but, even given these constraints, this study shows that, while differences in stage at diagnosis explain some of the international variation in overall lung cancer survival, wide disparities in stage-specific survival exist, suggesting that other factors are also important such as differences in treatment. Stage should be included in international cancer survival studies and the comparability of population-based data should be improved.