Chemotherapy in Women with Breast Cancer
Authors: Xianglin L. Du, Charles R. Key
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2003)

Letters18 November 2003Chemotherapy in Women with Breast CancerXianglin L. Du, MD, PhD and Charles R. Key, MD, PhDXianglin L. Du, MD, PhDFrom University of Texas Medical Branch; Galveston, TX 77555.From University of New Mexico; Albuquerque, NM 87131.Search for more papers by this author and Charles R. Key, MD, PhDFrom University of Texas Medical Branch; Galveston, TX 77555.From University of New Mexico; Albuquerque, NM 87131.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-139-10-200311180-00026 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail IN RESPONSE:Liebmann and colleagues correctly point out a typo for chemotherapy codes in the Methods section of our article. The numbers of cases for the 7 code categories in 5101 women should be 3574, 129, 21, 1248, 61, 68, and 0, respectively. However, we did not imply that 71% of women with breast cancer were undertreated with chemotherapy. In the 1990 NIH guidelines, adjuvant chemotherapy was not recommended in all women with stage I to IIIA disease. Therefore, it is important to separate cases into 2 groups: 1 group in which chemotherapy was generally recommended, and another group in ...References1. Harlan LC, Abrams J, Warren JL, Clegg L, Stevens J, Ballard-Barbash R. Adjuvant therapy for breast cancer: practice patterns of community physicians. J Clin Oncol. 2002;20:1809-17. [PMID: 11919238] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Du X, Goodwin JS. Patterns of use of chemotherapy for breast cancer in older women: findings from Medicare claims data. J Clin Oncol. 2001;19:1455-61. [PMID: 11230491] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Polychemotherapy for early breast cancer: an overview of the randomised trials. Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group. Lancet. 1998; 352:930-42. [PMID: 9752815] Google Scholar4. Bunn PA, Lilenbaum R. Chemotherapy for elderly patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer [Editorial]. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2003;95:341-3. [PMID: 12618492] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Sargent DJ, Goldberg RM, Jacobson SD, Macdonald JS, Labianca R, Haller DG, . A pooled analysis of adjuvant chemotherapy for resected colon cancer in elderly patients. N Engl J Med. 2001;345:1091-7. [PMID: 11596588] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Xianglin L. Du, MD, PhD; Charles R. Key, MD, PhDAffiliations: From University of Texas Medical Branch; Galveston, TX 77555.From University of New Mexico; Albuquerque, NM 87131. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoDiscrepancy between Consensus Recommendations and Actual Community Use of Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Women with Breast Cancer Xianglin L. Du , Charles R. Key , Cynthia Osborne , Jonathan D. Mahnken , and James S. Goodwin Chemotherapy in Women with Breast CancerThe EditorsChemotherapy in Women with Breast Cancer James Liebmann , Clark Haskins , Barbara McAneny , Richard Giudice , Douglas Clark , and Natalie Marshall Chemotherapy in Women with Breast Cancer Linda C. Harlan , Limin X. Clegg , and Joan L. Warren Metrics 18 November 2003Volume 139, Issue 10Page: 868-869KeywordsAdjuvant chemotherapyBreast cancerChemotherapyColorectal cancerLung and intrathoracic tumorsSurveillance Epidemiology and End Results ePublished: 18 November 2003 Issue Published: 18 November 2003 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2003 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...