In 1977 we reported our results of an ongoing randomized clinical trial evaluating early or delayed adjuvant chemotherapy utilizing 5-flourouracil, cytoxan and prednisone in premenopausal patients with recurrent or advanced breast cancer. At that time the group receiving early systemic chemotherapy was shown to have an improved progression-free interval and appeared to have a trend toward improved survival. The results of subsequent analysis after over 4 more years of follow-up indicate however, that while early employment of systemic chemotherapy does indeed prolong the progression-free interval, and while this advantage has been maintained, there is no survival advantage shown for either group of patients.