Caelyx as Primary Treatment for Patients With Breast Cancer and a History of Heart Disease and/or Age Over 65 Years

This is a phase II, uncontrolled, open label, multicenter study of a primary chemotherapy regimen consisting of four cycles of liposomal pegylated doxorubicine 35 mg/m² IV plus cyclophosphamide 600 mg/m² on Day 1 every 4 weeks followed by paclitaxel 80 mg/m²/week for 12 weeks before surgery in breast cancer patients at risk of developing anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity.

Surgery (tumorectomy, quadrantectomy, or mastectomy plus lymphadenectomy) will be performed 2 to 5 weeks after the last primary chemotherapy infusion.

Patients with > 10% of hormone receptor-positive cells will receive appropriate hormone therapy according to menopausal status.

Patients treated with breast-conserving surgery will receive radiation therapy to the mammary gland.

Patients with T4 tumors or significant axillary involvement (≥ ypN2) will receive radiation therapy to the breast or chest wall and to the lymph node chains.

Inclusion criteria

• Histologically confirmed invasive breast cancer (tumor > 2 cm).
• Estrogen receptor-negative or -weakly positive tumors (less than 50% of cells), as evaluated using IHC.
• Risk factors for developing anthracycline-induced cardiomyopathy.

Exclusion criteria

• Severe heart failure (NYHA Class III or IV) .
• Metastatic disease.
• LVEF < 45%.
• Pregnant or breast-feeding patients.