PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:
I. To determine the disease-free survival of patients (defined as invasive disease-free
survival [IFDS]) with lymph node positive and high risk lymph node negative breast cancer
randomized to treatment with either doxorubicin (doxorubicin
hydrochloride)/cyclophosphamide plus placebo followed by paclitaxel (AC + placebo > T +
placebo) or the same chemotherapy regimen plus bevacizumab.
SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:
I. To compare short-term (20-24 weeks) versus long-term (50-54 weeks) bevacizumab
therapy.
II. To compare the overall survival. III. To evaluate toxicity. IV. To evaluate the
association between outcomes in E5103 (disease-free survival, overall survival and
toxicities) and genotype (derived from candidate single nucleotide polymorphisms and
genome wide evaluations).
V. To compare the quality of life of breast cancer patients treated with AC/paclitaxel
and bevacizumab or placebo, in terms of physical symptoms, physical functioning,
psychological state and social functioning over an 18 month period.
VI. To determine the impact of theoretical biomarker information on patients' willingness
to accept the toxicities of bevacizumab for the estimated potential benefit.
VII. To create a biospecimen repository including plasma, serum and CellSearch cassettes
containing circulating tumor cells (CTC) for evaluating determinants of late relapse,
including candidate biomarkers reflecting occult tumor burden (e.g., CTCs and plasma
tumor deoxyribonucleic acid [DNA]) and host factors (e.g., estrogen, insulin-insulin-like
growth factor [IGF] axis, inflammation, etc).
VIII. To create a biorepository of metastatic tumor samples in patients who have had a
late relapse.
IX. To determine body mass index (BMI) and comorbidity burden in patients with operable
breast cancer five or more years after diagnosis.
X. To determine whether there is a relationship between late relapse and BMI at diagnosis
and at 5 years after diagnosis, and whether BMI-associated inflammatory and/or metabolic
biomarkers are associated with early and late recurrence.
OUTLINE: Patients are randomized to 1 of 3 treatment arms.
ARM I: Patients receive doxorubicin hydrochloride intravenously (IV), cyclophosphamide IV
over 20-30 minutes, and placebo IV over 30-90 minutes on day 1. Treatment repeats every 2
or 3 weeks for 4 courses. Beginning 3 weeks later, patients then receive paclitaxel IV
over 1 hour on days 1, 8, and 15 and placebo IV over 30-90 minutes on day 1. Treatment
with paclitaxel and placebo repeats every 3 weeks for 4 courses.
ARM II: Patients receive doxorubicin hydrochloride and cyclophosphamide as in arm I and
bevacizumab IV over 30-90 minutes on day 1. Treatment repeats every 2 or 3 weeks for 4
courses. Beginning 3 weeks later, patients then receive paclitaxel as in arm I and
bevacizumab IV over 30-90 minutes on day 1. Treatment with paclitaxel and bevacizumab
repeats every 3 weeks for 4 courses.
ARM III: Patients receive doxorubicin hydrochloride and cyclophosphamide as in arm I and
bevacizumab as in arm II. Treatment repeats every 2 or 3 weeks for 4 courses. Beginning 3
weeks later, patients then receive paclitaxel as in arm I and bevacizumab as in arm II.
Treatment with paclitaxel and bevacizumab repeats every 3 weeks for 4 courses. Beginning
2 months later, patients then receive bevacizumab IV over 30-90 minutes on day 1.
Treatment with bevacizumab alone repeats every 3 weeks for 10 courses.
In all arms, treatment continues in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable
toxicity.
After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up for 15 years.