Pegylated liposomal doxorubicin plus docetaxel significantly improves time to progression without additive cardiotoxicity compared with docetaxel monotherapy in patients with advanced breast cancer previously treated with neoadjuvant-adjuvant anthracycline therapy: results from a randomized phase III study.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether the combination of pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD) and docetaxel significantly prolongs time to disease progression compared with docetaxel alone without an increase in cardiac toxicity in women with advanced breast cancer who had experienced relapse at least 1 year after prior adjuvant or neoadjuvant anthracycline therapy.


METHODS
This international, phase III study randomly assigned 751 patients to receive either docetaxel 75 mg/m(2) (n = 373) or PLD 30 mg/m(2) followed by docetaxel 60 mg/m(2) every 21 days (n = 378) and continued until disease progression or prohibitive toxicity. The primary end point was time to progression (TTP). Secondary end points were overall survival (OS), objective response rate (ORR), cardiac toxicity, and safety.


RESULTS
Treatment with PLD-docetaxel significantly improved median TTP from 7.0 to 9.8 months (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.65; 95% CI, 0.55 to 0.77; P = .000001) and the ORR from 26% to 35% (P = .0085). OS was similar between the two groups (HR = 1.02; 95% CI, 0.86 to 1.22). The incidence of grade 3 or 4 adverse events were similar (78% v 72%), although a higher incidence of hand-foot syndrome (24% v 0%) and mucositis/stomatitis (12% v 1%) were observed in the PLD-docetaxel combination. Protocol-defined left ventricular ejection fraction decreases and congestive heart failure were reported in 5% and 1% in both treatment arms, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
The PLD-docetaxel combination was more effective than docetaxel alone in women with metastatic breast cancer who had experienced relapse at least 1 year after prior adjuvant anthracycline therapy without an increase in cardiac toxicity, although mucocutaneous toxicity was more common.
Sparano
Joseph A
JA
Montefiore-Einstein Cancer Center, 1825 Eastchester Rd, Bronx, NY 10461, USA. jsparano@montefiore.org
Makhson
Anatoly N
AN
Semiglazov
Vladimir F
VF
Tjulandin
Sergei A
SA
Balashova
Olga I
OI
Bondarenko
Igor N
IN
Bogdanova
Natalia V
NV
Manikhas
George M
GM
Oliynychenko
Gennadiy P
GP
Chatikhine
Valery A
VA
Zhuang
Sen H
SH
Xiu
Liang
L
Yuan
Zhilong
Z
Rackoff
Wayne R
WR
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018943:Anthracyclines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000556:secondary; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D018450:Disease Progression; D000077143:Docetaxel; D004317:Doxorubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D005260:Female; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D020360:Neoadjuvant Therapy; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D043823:Taxoids / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D013997:Time Factors
D018943:Anthracyclines; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D043823:Taxoids; C506643:liposomal doxorubicin; D000077143:Docetaxel; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D004317:Doxorubicin