A phase III trial to evaluate oral chemotherapy with capecitabine versus standard chemotherapy with CMF for advanced breast cancer (ANZ 0001 Capecitebine)

323 eligible women were randomly assigned to capecitabine adminis-tered intermittently (1,000 mg/m2 twice daily for 14 of every 21 days; n = 107) or continuously (650 mg/m2 twice daily for 21 of every 21 days; n = 107), or to classical CMF (oral cyclophos-phamide 100 mg/m2 days 1 to 14 with intravenous methotrexate 40 mg/m2 and fluorouracil 600 mg/m2 on days 1 and 8 every 28 days; n = 109). The primary end point was quality-adjusted progression-free survival (PFS); secondary end points included PFS, overall survival (OS), objective tumor response, and adverse events. Intermittent and continuous capecitabine were to be compared first and, if similar (P >.05), combined for definitive comparisons versus CMF.