PANTHER (NCT00798070) is a phase 3 trial which was conducted at 86 centres in Sweden, Germany and Austria. Study PI is Jonas Bergh. Inclusion was completed in 1/2011 and ten-year follow-up data have been collected (end of study). In total, 2003 patients were randomized.

Patients with resected breast cancer, either node positive or high-risk node-negative disease, were enrolled in the trial and were randomized 1:1 to the experimental or the standard treatment group. The former consisted of 4 cycles of tailored and DD epirubicin and cyclophosphamide every two weeks, followed by four cycles of tailored DD docetaxel every two weeks. Dosing was calculated according to a predefined algorithm depending on the hematologic nadirs of the previous cycle. Standard treatment consisted of three cycles of FEC administered every three weeks followed by three cycles of tri-weekly docetaxel. The primary endpoint was breast cancer free survival, defined as time from randomization until local, regional, or distant BC recurrence or death.

PREDIX LumB trial overview

Relevant publications:

  1. “Effect of Tailored Dose-Dense Chemotherapy vs Standard 3-Weekly Adjuvant Chemotherapy on Recurrence-Free Survival Among Women With High-Risk Early Breast Cancer: A Randomized Clinical Trial.”.
    T. Foukakis et al.
    JAMA, vol. 316, no. 18, pp. 1888–1896, Nov. 2016
  2. “Benefit from dose-dense adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer: subgroup analyses from the randomised phase 3 PANTHER trial.”.
    A. Matikas et al.
    Lancet Regional Health Europe, vol. 49, p. 101162, Feb. 2025
  3. “Dose tailoring of adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer based on hematologic toxicities: further results from the prospective PANTHER study with focus on obese patients.”.
    A. Matikas et al.
    Ann Oncol, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 109–114, Jan. 2019
  4. “Tailored Dose-Dense Versus Standard Adjuvant Chemotherapy for High-Risk Early Breast Cancer: End-of-Study Results of the Randomized PANTHER Trial.”.
    A. Matikas et al.
    Journal of Clinical Oncology, vol. 42, no. 26, pp. 3077–3082, Sep. 2024
  5. “Efficacy and safety of tailored and dose-dense adjuvant chemotherapy and trastuzumab for resected HER2-positive breast cancer: Results from the phase 3 PANTHER trial.”.
    A. Papakonstantinou et al.
    Cancer, vol. 126, no. 6, pp. 1175–1182, Mar. 2020
  6. “Neutropenic complications in the PANTHER phase III study of adjuvant tailored dose-dense chemotherapy in early breast cancer.”.
    A. Papakonstantinou et al.
    Acta Oncol, vol. 59, no. 1, pp. 75–81, Jan. 2020
  7. “Prognostic significance of tumour Ki-67 dynamics during neoadjuvant treatment in patients with breast cancer: a population-based cohort study.”.
    M. A. Toli et al.
    Lancet Regional Health Europe, vol. 58, p. 101432, Nov. 2025