doxorubicin + cyclophosphamide followed by paclitaxel + trastuzumab

This chemotherapy and targeted therapy regimen was developed and studied by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) for the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer. The regimen utilizes a dose-dense schedule, consisting of doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide (AC) administered every two weeks for four cycles, followed by paclitaxel administered concurrently with trastuzumab. Doxorubicin is an anthracycline that intercalates DNA and inhibits topoisomerase II; cyclophosphamide is an alkylating agent; paclitaxel is a taxane that stabilizes microtubules; and trastuzumab is a monoclonal antibody targeting the HER2/neu receptor. A Phase II feasibility trial (NCT00115115) specifically evaluated the cardiac safety of this sequential dose-dense approach in patients with Stage I-III HER2-positive breast cancer, demonstrating that the regimen is feasible with a low rate of congestive heart failure (1.4%) and high treatment completion rates.

Other names

dose-dense AC followed by paclitaxel and trastuzumabAC-TH regimendose-dense doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide followed by paclitaxel with trastuzumabdoxorubicin + cyclophosphamide followed by paclitaxel-Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center-breast cancer (HER2-positive)