Combination Chemotherapy With or Without Darbepoetin Alfa in Treating Women With Stage III Breast Cancer
Status:
Unknown status
Trial end date:
1969-12-31
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor
cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving more than one
drug (combination chemotherapy) may kill more tumor cells. Colony-stimulating factors, such
as darbepoetin alfa, may increase the number of immune cells found in bone marrow or
peripheral blood and may help the immune system recover from the side effects of
chemotherapy. Giving combination chemotherapy together with darbepoetin alfa after surgery
may kill any tumor cells that remain after surgery. It is not yet known whether combination
chemotherapy and darbepoetin alfa are more effective than combination chemotherapy alone in
treating stage III breast cancer.
PURPOSE: This randomized clinical trial is studying how well giving combination chemotherapy
together with darbepoetin alfa works compared to combination chemotherapy alone in treating
women with stage III breast cancer.