title: Identifying subsets of metastatic breast cancer patients likely to benefit from treatment with the epothilone B analog ixabepilone.
abstract: Breast cancer consists of a heterogeneous group of diseases, with a number of tumor-specific and patient-specific factors, which influence response to therapy and survival. Ixabepilone is a member of a novel class of antineoplastic agents, the epothilones, that has demonstrated activity in a number of human solid tumor types and is the first agent in this class to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of metastatic or locally advanced breast cancer, that is resistant/refractory to anthracyclines, taxanes, and/or capecitabine. Both retrospective and prospective studies have been conducted to evaluate the efficacy of ixabepilone in various populations. The role of ixabepilone in poor prognosis subgroups of the metastatic breast cancer population is reviewed in this article.
authors.affiliation: Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. sharich@emory.edu
authors.forename: Seema
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Harichand-Herdt
authors.forename: Ruth M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: O'regan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000556:secondary*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D001952:Bridged-Ring Compounds / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017326:Clinical Trials, Phase III as Topic; D017277:Drug Approval; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D034261:Epothilones / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000556:secondary*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000556:secondary*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D018579:Patient Selection; D011379:Prognosis; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D016019:Survival Analysis; D043823:Taxoids / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States; D014486:United States Food and Drug Administration
chemical_list: D001952:Bridged-Ring Compounds; D034261:Epothilones; D043823:Taxoids; C080625:taxane; C430592:ixabepilone; C093788:epothilone B