Table 3 Palliative chemotherapy, according to age group
Chemotherapy | Age at time of diagnosis of primary tumor | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|  | 20–49 (n = 27) | 50–69 (n = 35) | 70+ (n = 5) | total (n = 67) |
Number of schemes | ||||
   1 | 8 | 14 | 3 | 25 |
   2 | 11 | 14 | 2 | 27 |
   3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 |
   4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
   5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Total number of schemes | 58 | 67 | 7 | 132 |
Drugs used | ||||
   CAF | 16 | 15 | 0 | 31 |
   CMF | 14 | 16 | 0 | 30 |
   FEC | 7 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
   taxotere | 9 | 7 | 0 | 16 |
   mitoxantrone | 1 | 8 | 3 | 12 |
   vinorelbine | 4 | 5 | 3 | 12 |
   other | 7 | 13 | 1 | 21 |
Reason for postponement | ||||
   bone marrow suppression | 4 | 11 | 1 | 16 |
   fever | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
   toxicity | 2 | 6 | 0 | 8 |
   infection | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
Doses | ||||
   100% | 52 | 57 | 7 | 116 |
   80% | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
   75% | 3 | 5 | 0 | 8 |
   70% | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
   50% | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
Reason for dose reduction | ||||
   bone marrow suppression | 5 | 6 | 0 | 11 |
   toxicity | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
   other | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
Response | ||||
   yes* | 15 | 20 | 0 | 35 |
   no (progressive disease) | 43 | 46 | 5 | 91 |