Gemcitabine and cisplatin combination regimen in patients with anthracycline- and taxane-pretreated metastatic breast cancer

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the response rate of gemcitabine and cisplatin as second-line combination chemotherapy in patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) previously treated with anthracyclines and taxanes. Thirty-eight eligible women with measurable disease and anthracycline- and taxane-pretreated MBC were enrolled. The chemotherapy treatment consisted of gemcitabine (1,250 mg/m(2) by intravenous infusion over 30 min on days 1 and 8) and cisplatin (75 mg/m(2) by intravenous infusion over 1 h on day 1), which were administered every 21 days. Thirty-seven of 38 (97.4%) of patients were assessable for response. The objective response rate was 42.1% (95% CI, 26.4-57.8%) with 16 partial responses. The median time to progression (TTP) and overall survival (OS) for all patients were 5.4 months (95% CI, 2.7-8.1 months) and 13.9 months (95% CI, 9.4-18.4 months), respectively. The most frequent hematologic-related adverse events were grade 3/4 leucopenia and thrombocytopenia, observed in 10 patients (27.0%) and 11 (29.7%), respectively. Grade 3 stomatitis was observed in 3 (8.1%) patients. No grade 4 nonhematologic toxicity was observed in this study. No treatment-related deaths occurred during the study. In conclusion, the combination of gemcitabine and cisplatin is a safe and tolerable regimen as second-line combination for patients with anthracycline- and taxane-pretreated MBC.

Outcomes of Palliative Weekly Low-Dose Gemcitabine-Cisplatin Chemotherapy in Anthracycline- and Taxane- Pretreated Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients

“…They reported similar response rates of approximately 30% to 40% after GP chemotherapy, even though the dose and schedules of GP differed between the studies [ 12 , 13 , 14 ]. Sánchez-Escribano Morcuende et al reported that weekly low-dose GP treatment (gemcitabine, 750 mg/m 2 plus cisplatin, 30 mg/m 2 on days 1 and 8, every 3 weeks) in heavily pretreated MBC patients showed similar efficacy with better safety profiles when compared to high dose GP treatment (gemcitabine, 1,250 mg/m 2 plus cisplatin, 75 mg/m 2 on days 1 and 8, every 3 weeks) [ 12 , 17 , 18 ]. According to our data, the discontinuation rate of weekly low-dose GP due to overt toxicities was less than 6% and 32 patients (10.9%) discontinued GP because they were lost to follow-up or refused further treatment for other reasons.…”

Metals and Breast Cancer: Risk Factors or Healing Agents?

“…In clinics it is successfully used to treat hematologic malignancies. However, the antitumor effects could not be replicated for solid tumors [ 11 , 23 , 25 ], although in vitro As 2 O 3 induces apoptosis in other solid cancer cell lines including breast cancer cells [ 19 , 20 , 23 , 26 ]. In either application, the precise molecular mechanisms through which As 2 O 3 induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in solid tumors have not been fully understood [ 24 ].…”

“…This suggests that the combination of gemcitabine and cisplatin is a safe and tolerable regimen and useful as second-line combination for patients with anthracycline- and taxane-pretreated MBC. It is mostly used as a salvage regimen for progressive disease refractory to anthracyclines and taxanes and when liver dysfunction secondary to liver metastasis precludes these drugs [ 26 , 38 , 39 ].…”