Clifford A. Hudis, MD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, said that the findings of the US Oncology study should be “very reassuring” to physicians and patients.
“Several recent publications and SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) database analyses have reported what strike some of us as remarkably high rates of AML/MDS,” he told The ASCO Post. The current study results are much more in line with clinical trial data (such as the pivotal Cancer and Leukemia Group B [CALGB] 9741 trial of dose-dense chemotherapy1) that show the risk to be “a fraction of a percentage,” he said.
Dr. Hudis added, “I think studies based on SEER data are overestimating the real risk. Dr. Denduluri showed data that are more in line with what the prospective randomized trials have reported. My argument has always been that prospective randomized clinical trials are the right way to identify this toxicity, and not Medicare claims.” ■
Disclosure: Dr. Hudis reported no potential conflicts of interest.
Reference
1. Citron ML, Berry DA, Cirrincione C, et al: Randomized trial of dose-dense versus conventionally scheduled and sequential versus concurrent combination chemotherapy as postoperative adjuvant treatment of node-positive primary breast cancer: First report of Intergroup Trial C9741/Cancer and Leukemia Group B Tiral 9741. J Clin Oncol 21:1431-1439, 2003.
