In this study of 5,000 women, more women who received paclitaxel​ once a week were likely to be alive and free of breast cancer 5 years after being diagnosed compared to women who received paclitaxel​ every 3 weeks OR women who received Docetaxel​ (either weekly or every 3 weeks). All the women received doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide before receiving either paclitaxel​ or Docetaxel​.

For women diagnosed with early-stage, lymph-node-positive breast cancer, treatment often includes chemotherapy with Adriamycin and Cytoxan followed by a taxane. This chemotherapy regimen is sometimes called AC followed by T. paclitaxel​, Docetaxel​, and albumin-bound or nab-paclitaxel are all taxanes. In the AC followed by T regimen, a taxane is usually given as 4 treatments over 12 weeks — 1 treatment every 3 weeks.

In this study, the researchers compared the usual schedule of giving paclitaxel​ or Docetaxel​ every 3 weeks to a different schedule that gave a lower dose of paclitaxel​ or Docetaxel​ every week for 12 weeks. The women who got paclitaxel​ every week were 27% more likely to be alive and free of breast cancer 5 years after diagnosis compared to those who received the standard paclitaxel​ treatment schedule. The women who got paclitaxel​ every week also were more likely to be alive 5 years after diagnosis compared to women who got Docetaxel​ (either weekly or every 3 weeks). Albumin-bound or nab-paclitaxel​ was not looked at in this study.

For each medicine and treatment schedule the chances of being alive 5 years after diagnosis are:

• Paclitaxel​ once a week: 89.7%
• Paclitaxel​ once every 3 weeks: 86.5%
• Docetaxel​ once every 3 weeks: 87.3%
• Docetaxel​ once a week: 86.2%

Some doctors have wondered whether a taxane has benefits for women diagnosed with hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer. This study found that women diagnosed with hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer did benefit from getting a taxane.

Women who got Paclitaxel​ or Docetaxel​ once a week instead of every 3 weeks seemed to have less severe side effects from the chemotherapy. This is probably because each Paclitaxel​ or Docetaxel​ dose was slightly less than half the standard dose. On the other hand, these women had to get treatment every week instead of every 3 weeks. It may be harder to plan your life around getting treatment every week than getting treatment every 3 weeks.

If chemotherapy that includes a taxane is going to be a part of your treatment plan, you might want to talk to your doctor about this study and consider asking these questions:

• Which taxane (Paclitaxel​, Docetaxel​, or Abraxane) is recommended for me?
• Which treatment schedule (weekly or every 3 weeks) is recommended?