Another Taxane Doublet for Metastatic Breast Cancer?

Adding gemcitabine to docetaxel did not improve outcomes significantly.

The value of combination chemotherapy versus sequential single agents for treating metastatic breast cancer (MBC) has long been debated. A meta-analysis showed that combination therapy can confer improvements in response rate, time to progression (TTP), and overall survival (OS), but with greater costs in toxicity; however, this analysis largely excluded taxane-containing regimens. Other studies have indicated that taxane-containing combination therapy is superior to single-agent therapy (gemcitabine-paclitaxel vs. paclitaxel [J Clin Oncol 2008; 26:3950]; capecitabine-docetaxel vs. docetaxel [J Clin Oncol 2002; 20:2812]), but the efficacy of sequential administration of each single agent was not considered.

Now, Danish investigators have con…

Reviewing Author

William J. Gradishar, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardLilly; AstraZeneca; Gilead

Grant/Research SupportBreast Cancer Research Foundation

Editorial BoardsClinical Breast Cancer; Oncology; Annals of Surgery; Breast Cancer Research and Treatment

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesNational Comprehensive Cancer Network (Chair, Breast Cancer Panel); American Board of Internal Medicine (Medical Oncology Board)