title: Safety and efficacy evaluation of albumin-bound paclitaxel.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel (nab-paclitaxel) is a novel solvent-free formulation of paclitaxel, which was developed to avoid toxicities associated with Cremophor EL® vehicle used in solvent-based paclitaxel. It is approved as monotherapy for treatment of metastatic breast cancer (MBC) in Europe and the US; in combination therapy for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and for first-line treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer (PC) only in the US. The European Medicines Agency has recently released only a positive opinion for use of nab-paclitaxel in PC.
  
  
  METHODS
  This review reports the clinical findings and the safety data of nab-paclitaxel for MBC, NSCLC and PC.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In MBC, nab-paclitaxel has demonstrated a good safety and an efficacy profile compared with other taxanes, but no strong data on overall survival are available. Considering the role of markers or predictive factors for nab-paclitaxel effectiveness in the metastatic setting would be useful. In PC, nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine represent a new therapeutic choice with significant improvement in survival. In a Phase III study with NSCLC patients, nab-paclitaxel showed better results in a subgroup of patients with squamous histology, for whom results with conventional therapies are still poor and improved therapeutic options are needed.
authors.affiliation: CRO Aviano National Cancer Institute, Hospital Pharmacy , Via F. Gallini, 2, 33081, Aviano , Italy.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cecco
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aliberti
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Baldo
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Giacomin
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Leone
mesh_terms: D000068196:Albumin-Bound Paclitaxel; D000418:Albumins / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017326:Clinical Trials, Phase III as Topic; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D017239:Paclitaxel / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D000068196:Albumin-Bound Paclitaxel; D000418:Albumins; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D017239:Paclitaxel