Narui K, Ishikawa T, Shimizu D, et al. - The efficacy of six cycles of docetaxel and cyclophosphamide (TC6) was compared with that of three cycles of 5-fluorouracil, epirubicin and cyclophosphamide followed by docetaxel (FEC-D) in Japanese patients with hormone receptor (HR)-negative breast cancer (BC) in order to recognize subtypes that may require anthracycline treatment. Among 103 included patients who had operable HR-negative BC, 53 received FEC-D and 50 received TC6; 97 completed the study (FEC-D, 50 patients; TC6, 47 patients). TC6 was not identified as sufficient to treat triple-negative breast cancer, particularly the basal subtype. This suggests that for treating HR-negative BC, TC6 was not as effective as FEC-D. Findings suggest the superiority of anthracyclines as treatment options than taxanes for basal BC.