title: Activity of pegylated liposomal doxorubicin in combination with gemcitabine in triple negative breast cancer with skin involvement: two case reports.
abstract: Breast carcinoma (BC) is a heterogeneous disease in terms of histology, therapeutic response, dissemination patterns to distant sites and patient outcomes. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), defined by the lack of protein expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors and the absence of HER2 protein overexpression (ER-/PR-/HER2-) has significant clinical implications due to their poor prognosis and the lack of targeted agents. Skin involvement is one of the most distressing presentations of locally recurrent breast cancer and few studies have identified effective agents in this setting. In fact, the increasing use of anthracycline/taxane-based chemotherapy in the neoadjuvant and/or adjuvant settings has led to investigate new cytotoxic therapies such as the combination of pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD) with gemcitabine. Here, we report two cases of disseminated TNBC with extensive cutaneous metastases and a remarkable response to PLD in combination with gemcitabine. Further investigations are needed to confirm the efficacy of this regimen in skin involvement and TNBC.
authors.affiliation: Unit of Integrated Therapies in Oncology, Department of Human Pathology, University Policlinic, G Martino, Italy.
authors.forename: Tindara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Franchina
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Adamo
authors.forename: Giuseppina R R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Ricciardi
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Caristi
authors.forename: Rita Maria
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Agostino
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Proto
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Adamo
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D003841:Deoxycytidine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D004317:Doxorubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D004890:Erythema / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008875:Middle Aged; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000008:administration & dosage; D011379:Prognosis; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone / Q000378:metabolism; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D000093542:Gemcitabine
chemical_list: D003841:Deoxycytidine; D004317:Doxorubicin; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone; D000093542:Gemcitabine; C506643:liposomal doxorubicin