Table 1.

Demographic and Baseline Disease Characteristics of the Patients.

Characteristic	Sequential-ACT Group (N = 1783)	Doxorubicin–Docetaxel Group (N = 1784)	Concurrent-ACT Group (N = 1784)
Age at study entry
Median (yr)	51	50	51
<50 yr (%)	46	46	44
Menopausal status (%)
Premenopausal or perimenopausal	45	47	45
Postmenopausal	54	51	54
Unknown	1	1	1
No. of positive nodes (%)
1–3	64	65	65
4–9	25	24	25
≥10	8	8	8
Unknown	3	3	2
Estrogen-receptor status (%)*
Positive	75	75	75
Negative	25	25	25
Tumor size (%)
≤2 cm	42	42	43
>2–4 cm	40	41	40
>4 cm	15	14	15
Unknown	3	3	2
Type of surgery (%)†
Lumpectomy	49	49	49
Mastectomy	51	51	51
Type of radiotherapy (%)
None after mastectomy	23	21	22
Local after mastectomy	28	30	29
Local after lumpectomy	24	23	24
Local or regional after lumpectomy	24	25	24
None after lumpectomy	1	1	1

^*Assessment of estrogen-receptor (ER) and progesterone-receptor status was required before randomization. ER-positive tumors were defined by a finding of ≥10 fmol of cytosol protein per milligram by the dextrancoated charcoal or sucrose-density gradient method or as positive by the enzyme immunoassay method or by immunocytochemical assay. Patients without definitive negative results (e.g., those with results deemed to be marginal or borderline) were considered to have positive results.

^†Patients were required to have undergone primary breast-cancer surgery to be eligible for study entry.