Table 6.

Frequency of grade 3–4 adverse events in the FEC and PE arms

Adverse event	FEC arm [cases (%)]	PE arm [cases (%)]	P value
Hematologic
Neutropenia	9 (5.96)	17 (11.97)	0.031
Anemia	6 (4.00)	10 (7.04)	0.248
Thrombocytopenia	5 (3.31)	7 (4.93)	0.485
Non-hematologic
Nausea	4 (2.64)	4 (2.82)	0.458
Vomiting	2 (1.32)	3 (2.11)	0.603
Diarrhea	2 (1.32)	4 (2.82)	0.951
Constipation	3 (1.99)	4 (2.82)	0.267
Hair loss	24 (15.79)	28 (19.72)	0.583
Dermatitis	8 (5.30)	11 (7.75)	0.395
Febrile	1 (0.66)	1 (0.70)	0.965
Fatigue	7 (4.64)	10 (7.04)	0.379
Hand-foot syndrome	6 (3.97)	5 (3.52)	0.913
Allergy	0 (0.00)	1 (0.70)	0.143

FEC tri-weekly 5-fluorouracil–epirubicin–cyclophosphamide regimen, PE weekly paclitaxel–epirubicin regimen