title: Phase II study of oral vinorelbine in combination with capecitabine as second line chemotherapy in metastatic breast cancer patients previously treated with anthracyclines and taxanes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Effective treatment options for patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) resistant/refractory to anthracyclines and/or taxanes are limited. Intravenous and oral combination of vinorelbine (VRL) and capecitabine were shown to be feasible and effective in first-line MBC. In order to evaluate the activity of the combination of an all oral regimen in a more advanced setting, we investigated a regimen combining oral VRL and capecitabine in a phase II study as second-line chemotherapy of MBC patients previously treated with anthracyclines and taxanes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty patients (median age 52 years) with MBC received the combination of oral VRL 60 mg/m(2) on days 1, 8 and 15 plus capecitabine 1,000 mg/m(2) bid given from day 1 to day 14 in an open-label, international, multicentre, phase II study. Cycles were repeated every 3 weeks. The primary endpoint was response rate (RR) evaluated by an independent panel review. Secondary objectives included safety, duration of response, progression-free survival, overall survival and quality of life.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All the patients had received prior chemotherapy with anthracyclines and taxanes, 75% were refractory/resistant to anthracycline and/or taxane, 72.5% presented with visceral involvement and the last prior chemotherapy for 87.5% of the patients was for advanced disease setting. The median number of administered cycles per patient was 4 (range 1-31). Eight responses were documented and validated by an independent panel review, yielding RRs of 20% [95% CI: 9-35.6] in the intent-to-treat (treated) population and 23.5% [95% CI: 10.7-41.2] in the 34 evaluable patients. Median progression-free survival and median overall survival were 3.4 months [95% CI: 2.3-5.5] and 11.3 months [95% CI: 8.1-16.4], respectively. The principal toxicities were anaemia, neutropenia (rarely complicated; only one patient experienced febrile neutropenia), fatigue and gastrointestinal toxicities with very few grade 3-4 non-haematological toxicities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In second-line treatment of MBC patients previously treated with anthracyclines and taxanes, oral VRL plus capecitabine is a safe regimen with an efficacy comparable to the other available combination regimens used in this heavily and resistant/refractory (75% of patients) pre-treated patients' population. Moreover, this well-tolerated combination offers the advantages of an all oral regimen.
authors: Royal Free Hospital, Londres NW3 2QG, UK. alison.jones@royalfree.nhs.uk
authors: Alison
authors: A
authors: Jones
authors: Mary
authors: M
authors: O'Brien
authors: Harald
authors: H
authors: Sommer
authors: Elzbieta
authors: E
authors: Nowara
authors: Anja
authors: A
authors: Welt
authors: Tadeusz
authors: T
authors: Pienkowski
authors: Janusz
authors: J
authors: Rolski
authors: My-Linh
authors: ML
authors: Pham
authors: Kevin
authors: K
authors: Perraud
authors: Véronique
authors: V
authors: Trillet-Lenoir
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018943:Anthracyclines / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D000069287:Capecitabine; D003841:Deoxycytidine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000139:chemically induced; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D005221:Fatigue / Q000139:chemically induced; D005260:Female; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009503:Neutropenia / Q000139:chemically induced; D012074:Remission Induction; D016019:Survival Analysis; D043823:Taxoids / Q000008:administration & dosage; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014747:Vinblastine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D000077235:Vinorelbine
chemical_list: D018943:Anthracyclines; D043823:Taxoids; D003841:Deoxycytidine; D014747:Vinblastine; D000069287:Capecitabine; D000077235:Vinorelbine; D005472:Fluorouracil