Emerging Agents in the Treatment of Anthracycline- and Taxane-Refractory Metastatic Breast Cancer

Ixabepilone plus capecitabine in metastatic breast cancer patients with reduced performance status previously treated with anthracyclines and taxanes: a pooled analysis by performance status of efficacy and safety data from 2 phase III studies

“…Chemotherapeutic regimens containing taxanes and anthracyclines are the current standard of care for hormone-refractory MBC, and are being used earlier in the course of the disease with increasing frequency [2][3][4]. Sequential single-agent therapies including capecitabine, gemcitabine, and vinorelbine are preferred to combination regimens for MBC progressing after anthracyclines and taxanes, with capecitabine being the only approved monotherapy [5][6][7][8][9]. While these agents exhibit antitumor activity in this patient population, none showed a survival benefit either alone or in combination with other drugs [8,9].…”

“…Sequential single-agent therapies including capecitabine, gemcitabine, and vinorelbine are preferred to combination regimens for MBC progressing after anthracyclines and taxanes, with capecitabine being the only approved monotherapy [5][6][7][8][9]. While these agents exhibit antitumor activity in this patient population, none showed a survival benefit either alone or in combination with other drugs [8,9]. The prognosis is particularly unfavorable for patients with a reduced performance status who are typically more symptomatic and less responsive to treatment than those with a good performance status [10][11][12][13][14][15][16].…”

Management of platinum-resistant ovarian cancer with the combination of pemetrexed and gemcitabine

“…FPGS converts the drug to the predominant pentaglutamate form that leads to an enhanced intracellular retention of the drug and more potent inhibition of TS, DHFR and GARFT than the monoglutamate form. This agent is broadly active in a wide variety of solid tumours, including non-small-cell lung [27], breast [28], bladder [29], head and neck [30], and ovarian cancers [31], as well as mesothelioma [32].…”

Advances in the Management of Metastatic Breast Cancer: Options Beyond First-Line Chemotherapy

“…Early trials studied chemotherapy in patients who had not received prior adjuvant treatment 13 . As adjuvant chemotherapy became increasingly common, anthracycline-and taxane-based regimens became embedded in practice as standard treatments in the adjuvant or neoadjuvant setting 12,13,15 . Thus, the choice of therapy in the metastatic setting is now increasingly influenced by issues of cumulative toxicity and resistance.…”