Precis: Administration of a combined regimen of docetaxel plus vinorelbine every 4 weeks is feasible and shows activity in heavily pretreated patients with advanced breast cancer.
Purpose: To determine the activity and tolerance of docetaxel plus vinorelbine in heavily pretreated patients with advanced breast cancer.
Methods: Thirty-five metastatic breast cancer patients with ECOG performance status of 0-2 received docetaxel (80 mg/m2 given intravenously) on day 1 and vinorelbine (30 mg/m2 given intravenously) on days 1 and 14, every 4 weeks. The median number of prior chemotherapy regimens was 2 (range: 1-4). Twenty-five patients (71.4%) had been treated previously using intensive therapy approaches with peripheral blood-derived stem cell (PBSC) support, including high-dose chemotherapy (11 patients), multicyclic dose-intensive chemotherapy supported with repeated PBSC infusions (seven patients), or both (seven patients). Twenty-eight patients (80%) received previous chemotherapy for metastatic disease. Adjuvant therapy in the remaining seven patients consisted of high-dose chemotherapy and PBSC support or an anthracycline-containing regimen.
Results: The total number of courses was 229, and the median number of courses per patient was 6 (range: 1-16). There was one toxic death (2.8%). Grade 3-4 toxicities included mucositis (17.1%), neutropenia (37.1%), anemia (5.7%), vomiting (2.9%), and asthenia (14.3%). Eighteen patients (58%; 95% CI: 40.6-75.4%) achieved an objective response, including four complete responses (12.9%) and 14 partial responses (45.1%). Overall response rate was 51.4% (95% CI: 34.8-67.9%). After a median follow-up of 20 months (range: 2-42), overall survival was 20 months (95% CI: 16-24), and median time to progression was 13 months (95% CI: 7-19).
Conclusion: This combination shows activity and an acceptable toxicity profile in patients with advanced breast cancer.