Adjuvant treatment of early breast cancer: do the St Gallen recommendations influence clinical practice? Results from the NORA study

Background: The NORA study is a prospective longitudinal cohort study aiming at investigating treatment in patients with early breast cancer. Here, we present the impact of the St Gallen recommendations on clinical practice. Patients and methods: We compared adjuvant strategies in patients enrolled in 2000–2002 to those in 2003–2004 to verify the impact of the 2003 St Gallen recommendations. Results: The use of aromatase inhibitors (AIs) doubled: 65/629 patients (10.3%) vs 100/458 patients (21.8) (P < 0.0001). Following chemotherapy, AIs were administered in 8.5% of the retrospective cohort and in 15.1% of the prospective one (P < 0.0001). The use of taxanes plus hormones dropped (P = 0.0026), but not when used as single agents. A marked increase was observed in the use of anthracycline-based chemotherapy (46.3% vs 65.2%), mainly three-drug regimens (33.3% vs 46.6%). Conclusion: Our results suggest that the St Gallen recommendations have had a major impact on clinical practice.