Effect of adjuvant trastuzumab treatment in conventional clinical setting: an observational retrospective multicenter Italian study.

Clinical trials have shown the efficacy of trastuzumab-based adjuvant therapy in HER2-positive breast cancers, but routine clinical use awaits evaluation of compliance, safety, and effectiveness. Adjuvant trastuzumab-based therapy in routine clinical use was evaluated in the retrospective study GHEA, recording 1,002 patients treated according to the HERA protocol between March 2005 and December 2009 in 42 Italian oncology departments; 874 (87.23 %) patients completed 1-year trastuzumab treatment. In 128 patients (12.77 %), trastuzumab was withdrawn due to cardiac or non-cardiac toxicity (28 and 29 patients, respectively), disease progression (5 patients) or the clinician's decision (66 patients). In addition, 156 patients experienced minor non-cardiac toxicities; 10 and 44 patients showed CHF and decreased LVEF, respectively, at the end of treatment. Compliance and safety of adjuvant trastuzumab-based therapy in Italian hospitals were high and close to those reported in the HERA trial. With a median follow-up of 32 months, 107 breast cancer relapses were recorded (overall frequency, 10.67 %), and lymph node involvement, estrogen receptor negativity, lymphoid infiltration, and vascular invasion were identified as independent prognostic factors for tumor recurrence, indicating that relapses were associated with advanced tumor stage. Analysis of site and frequency of distant metastases showed that bone metastases were significantly more frequent during or immediately after trastuzumab (<18 months from the start of treatment) compared to recurrences in bone after the end of treatment and wash-out of the drug (>18 months from the start of treatment) (35.89 vs. 14.28 %, p = 0.0240); no significant differences were observed in recurrences in the other recorded body sites, raising the possibility that the protection exerted by trastuzumab is lower in bone metastases.

A randomized phase II study of combination, alternating and sequential regimens of doxorubicin and docetaxel as first-line chemotherapy for women with metastatic breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: This randomized phase II study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of doxorubicin and docetaxel (DOC) administered either as a combination, an alternating or a sequential regimen in women with metastatic breast cancer. Secondary objectives included overall response, time to progression, survival and safety. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with breast cancer (n=123) were randomized to receive doxorubicin and DOC either in combination (60 mg/m2 of each drug), or by alternated or sequential schedule (100 mg/m2 DOC and 75 mg/m2 doxorubicin) every 3 weeks for a maximum of eight cycles as first chemotherapy for stage IV disease. A second randomization allocated patients from each arm to receive prophylactic oral ciprofloxacin or no therapy to prevent febrile neutropenia. RESULTS: Patients received a median of eight cycles. In an intention-to-treat analysis, the overall response was 63%, 52% and 61% in the combination, alternating and sequential schedules, respectively. Corresponding rates of complete response were 15%, 14% and 11%. Grade 4 neutropenia was common in all arms (81%) and, together with febrile neutropenia, was significantly more frequent with the combination. Prophylaxis with ciprofloxacin did not reduce the incidence of febrile neutropenia or infection. Other frequent non-hematological adverse events included alopecia, nausea, vomiting, stomatitis and asthenia. Congestive heart failure only occurred in the combination arm (10%). CONCLUSION: All three schedules are feasible and endowed of good therapeutic activity. In view of the more pronounced toxicity and the risk of cardiac events because of the higher exposure to doxorubicin, the combination should be least favored when treating women with metastatic breast cancer. Prophylaxis with ciprofloxacin was ineffective and is not recommended.

High dose chemotherapy and hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation for breast cancer.

Nowhere has there been more controversy in recent years than in the use of high dose chemotherapy (HDC) with autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for breast cancer, both in the adjuvant setting and for advanced disease. Authors review and comment on the data from the studies so far reported and try to indicate what will be next in this field. They also discuss what may be the attitude to take in our everyday clinical practice, taking into account the availability of new chemotherapeutic agents and targeted therapies.

Clinical and pharmacologic study of the epirubicin and paclitaxel combination in women with metastatic breast cancer.

PURPOSE: A pharmacokinetic interaction may cause increased cardiotoxicity of paclitaxel (PTX) and high cumulative dose of doxorubicin. We tested antitumor activity, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of the lesser cardiotoxic epirubicin (EPI) and PTX (ET combination). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty-seven women with untreated metastatic breast cancer, median age of 56 years, and prominent visceral involvement (74%) were studied. Three-weekly EPI (90 mg/m(2)) and PTX (200 mg/m(2) over 3 hours) were given for a maximum nine cycles. EPI was administered 24 hours before PTX (E --> T) in cycle 1, and 15 minutes before PTX (ET) thereafter. EPI, epirubicinol (EOL), EPI-glucuronide (EPI-glu), EOL-glucuronide (EOL-glu), PTX, and 6alpha-OH-PTX were measured in plasma and urine in 14 women. RESULTS: Patients received 205 cycles of ET and a median EPI dose of 720 mg/m(2). Grade 4 neutropenia (49% of cycles) was the most frequent toxicity. Cardiac contractility was decreased in five patients. Mild congestive heart failure occurred in two (7.4%). Response rate was 76% (28% complete). Median overall survival was 29 months. On the basis of intrapatient comparison in the first 24 hours of E --> T and ET cycles, PTX did not affect EPI disposition, but significantly increased plasma exposure to EOL (by 137%), EPI-glu (threefold) and EOL-glu (twofold). Urinary excretion of EPI dose went from 8.2% in E --> T to 11.8% in ET cycles. Clearance of PTX was 30% slower in ET than E --> T. ET cycles caused lower neutrophil nadir than E --> T (644 +/- 327 v 195 +/- 91, P <.05) CONCLUSION: ET is feasible, devoid of excessive cardiac toxicity, and active. A reciprocal pharmacokinetic interference between the two drugs has pharmacodynamic consequences, and suggests a direct effect of PTX on EPI metabolism requiring ad hoc investigation.

Pilot study of primary chemotherapy with doxorubicin plus paclitaxel in women with locally advanced or operable breast cancer.

A pilot study of primary chemotherapy with bolus doxorubicin plus paclitaxel (Taxol; Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Princeton, NJ) infused over 3 hours was performed in 38 women with locally advanced and 41 with stage II/III breast cancer. Patients received four cycles of primary chemotherapy followed by surgery and treatment with cyclophosphamide/methotrexate/5-fluorouracil for six cycles. Preliminary data are available on 73 patients. Doxorubicin plus paclitaxel was well tolerated. Primary toxicity consisted of grade 1 or 2 reversible peripheral neuropathy and grade 3 alopecia. After a median follow-up of 13 months, none of the patients have developed cardiac toxicity or any significant alteration of the left ventricular ejection fraction, which was measured before treatment, at each cycle of doxorubicin plus paclitaxel, and every 3 months thereafter. Major clinical response of the breast tumor was observed in 88% of patients. At pathologic examination of the surgical specimen, 40% were pT1, 15% had no macroscopic tumor residue, and 7% had complete disappearance of invasive neoplastic cells. After a median follow-up of 17 months for patients with locally advanced breast cancer, freedom from progression was 67%, disease-free survival was 71%, and overall survival was 74%. The same end points were 100% for patients with stage II/III disease, with a shorter median follow-up of 10 months. In conclusion, doxorubicin plus paclitaxel is safe, feasible, and effective, and can be used as primary or adjuvant chemotherapy to assess its actual therapeutic role in women with early breast cancer.

Human pharmacokinetic characterization and in vitro study of the interaction between doxorubicin and paclitaxel in patients with breast cancer.

PURPOSE: We performed a pharmacologic investigation of paclitaxel (PTX) infused over 3 hours and bolus doxorubicin (DOX) to assess the role of sequence, interval between drugs, and duration of doxorubicin infusion on paclitaxel and anthracycline plasma disposition. We also explored possible mechanisms of pharmacokinetic interference involving the physiologic role of the multidrug resistance phenotype in anthracycline and taxane biliary excretion. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Pharmacokinetics was performed in 80 cycles and 36 women with previously untreated metastatic breast cancer. PTX, DOX, and their metabolites 6 alpha-hydroxyl-PTX (6 alpha OH-PTX) and doxorubicinol (DOL) were measured by high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). Human breast cancer MCF-7 wild-type (WT) and resistant (TH) cell lines were cultured in whole human plasma to study anthracycline retention after treatment with different combinations of PTX, Cremophor EL (CEL) (PEG35 castor oil; BASF, Parsippany, NJ), and DOX. RESULTS: Pharmacokinetic interference between PTX and DOX was responsible for nonlinearity of DOX plasma disposition and increased concentrations of DOX and DOL. These effects were PTX dose-dependent, DOX concentration-dependent, and likely a result of interference at the level of liver elimination. In view of the physiologic role of P-glycoproteins (P-gp) in xenobiotic biliary excretion, retention of DOX was assessed in MCF-7 WT and MCF-7 TH cells. Intracellular was significantly higher in MCF-7 WT than MCF-7 TH (P < .05). However, concomitant exposure to DOX, PTX, and CEL caused similar DOX retention in both MCF-7 WT and TH cells. CONCLUSION: PTX, as clinically formulated in CEL, is responsible for a nonlinear disposition of DOX and DOL. Nonlinearity is PTX- and DOX-dependent, and possibly caused by competition for biliary excretion of taxanes and anthracyclines mediated by P-gp. Nonlinearity indicates that even minor modifications of dose and infusion duration of DOX and PTX may lead to unpredictable pharmacodynamic consequences. The postulated role of P-gp suggests that CEL is clinically active, and advises caution in designing combinations of PTX with other drugs that are substrate for P-gp.

Biweekly paclitaxel and cisplatin in patients with advanced head and neck carcinoma. A phase II trial.

BACKGROUND: Cisplatin is an active drug in head and neck cancer. Paclitaxel seems a promising drug. This article reports a phase II assessment of the combination of the two. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty-three patients were treated with paclitaxel 90 mg/m2 over three hours plus cisplatin 60 mg/m2 every other week. Sixteen patients had locoregional disease and seven had metastatic disease. None of the patients had previously been treated with chemotherapy. Nine patients had had radiotherapy to the target lesions. RESULTS: One patient was not evaluable for response. Partial responses were observed in 32% of evaluable patients. Toxicity included asthenia (56%), neutropenia, peripheral neuropathy, anemia and vomiting. CONCLUSIONS: The overall response rate observed in this study does not seem to justify the use of this chemotherapy regimen in the palliative setting.

The role of taxanes in the treatment of breast cancer.

The taxanes paclitaxel and docetaxel are undergoing extensive evaluation in women with breast cancer in the United States and in Europe. Their dose-limiting toxicity is neutropenia. Paclitaxel also causes peripheral neuropathy, while docetaxel can cause unpredictable and severe skin toxicity, as well as edema and effusions due to a capillary leak syndrome. Due to threshold pharmacodynamics and nonlinear pharmacokinetics, tolerability of paclitaxel is schedule dependent. Single-agent paclitaxel was very active in multiple phase II trials in patients with different numbers and types of prior chemotherapy and disease extent (20% to 60% complete plus partial responses). Effective doses ranged from 135 to 250 mg/m2. Activity was observed with all infusion schedules (1, 3, and 24 hours) and in women with anthracycline-resistant tumors (25% to 38%). The use of a 96-hour infusion schedule was very active in anthracycline-refractory patients (48%) and in women who failed short infusion taxanes. The drug is undergoing extensive evaluation in combination with doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, cisplatin, and antimetabolites. Very promising efficacy was observed for paclitaxel by 3-hour infusion plus bolus doxorubicin (approximately 40% complete responses and 50% partial responses). The combination also caused a high incidence of clinically reversible congestive heart failure(14% to 18%). Docetaxel also has very good efficacy in breast cancer, with approximately 70% major responses in untreated patients and more than 50% in anthracycline-resistant tumors. There is no evidence that efficacy and tolerability are schedule dependent as is the case for paclitaxel. At recommended doses (100 or 75 mg/m2 by 1-hour infusion every 3 weeks), docetaxel causes a fluid retention syndrome that may affect quality of life. Its common onset after multiple cycles may limit the use of docetaxel for palliation in metastatic breast cancer. These results clearly indicate that the taxanes will become a standard component of initial chemotherapy for women with breast cancer. The definition of their actual role still requires an answer to the unresolved questions of their optimal dose and combination with other anticancer agents. Most importantly, the drugs should be prospectively evaluated in a randomized study using comparable doses and schedules to assess which of the two has the better therapeutic index in breast cancer.

Paclitaxel by 3-hour infusion in combination with bolus doxorubicin in women with untreated metastatic breast cancer: high antitumor efficacy and cardiac effects in a dose-finding and sequence-finding study.

PURPOSE: To define the maximum-tolerated dose (MTD) and better tolerated sequence of paclitaxel by 3-hour infusion plus bolus doxorubicin (DOX) and to evaluate antitumor efficacy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thirty-five women with metastatic breast cancer (dominant visceral metastases in 56%, and involvement of > or = three sites in 67%) who never received chemotherapy of any type were studied. Paclitaxel every 3 weeks (125 mg/m2 starting dose) was increased by 25-mg/m2 steps in subsequent cohorts of patients. DOX (60 mg/m2 fixed dose) was administered 15 minutes before the start of or after the end of paclitaxel for a maximum of eight cycles. Subsequently, patients in continuous response could receive single-agent paclitaxel (175 to 200 mg/m2 every 3 weeks). The drug sequence was alternated in consecutive patients and in the first two cycles. RESULTS: Severe neutropenia that lasted greater than 7 days (n = 4), febrile neutropenia (n = 7) and grade III oral mucositis (n = 6) defined the MTD of paclitaxel at 200 mg/m2 in 34 assessable patients. Grade II peripheral neuropathy occurred in 33% of patients. Six women (18%) developed clinically reversible congestive heart failure (CHF) after a median of 480 mg/m2 total DOX. Drug sequence had no effect on toxicities. High efficacy on all metastatic sites in 32 assessable patients accounted for a 41% complete response (CR) rate (95% confidence interval [CI], 24% to 59%) and 94% overall-response rate (95% CI, 79% to 99%). After a median follow-up of 12 months (range 3 to 18), the median response duration is 8 months (range, 2+ to 18+) for complete responders and 11 months (range 1+ to 15+) for partial responders. CONCLUSION: The rate of CR and incidence of CHF may be an expression of therapeutic and toxic enhancement due to the schedule used in this trial. Until clarification of this possibility, this promising combination should be used in investigational trials.

Paclitaxel in metastatic breast cancer: a trial of two doses by a 3-hour infusion in patients with disease recurrence after prior therapy with anthracyclines.

BACKGROUND: To date, anthracyclines are the most active drugs against breast tumors, and the taxane paclitaxel (Taxol) looks very promising. Both classes of drugs are affected by cellular multidrug-resistance mechanisms, and therefore their sequential use raises the possibility of clinical cross-resistance. It is therefore important to assess the activity of paclitaxel in patients with clinical resistance to anthracyclines. PURPOSE: We assessed the safety and efficacy of paclitaxel administered by the logistically convenient 3-hour infusion to breast cancer patients who had disease progression within 12 months since prior therapy with anthracyclines. METHODS: Fifty-one patients with metastatic breast cancer who had all relapsed or whose disease had progressed within 12 months from completion of an anthracycline-containing chemotherapy protocol (six receiving adjuvant therapy, 19 receiving neoadjuvant therapy, and 26 receiving treatment for metastatic disease) were enrolled in this phase II trial from June 1992 to May 1994. After medication to prevent type I acute hypersensitivity reactions, paclitaxel was given intravenously over 3 hours at 175 mg/m2 to the first 15 patients and at 225 mg/m2 to the next 36 patients. The median age was 50 years (range, 31-62 years), and the median Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status was 0 (range, 0-2). RESULTS: Patients received a median of five cycles (range, one to 11 cycles). After initial doses of 175 and 225 mg/m2, paclitaxel could be increased by 25 mg/m2 in 73% and 58% of cycles, respectively. Among 50 assessable patients, seven achieved a complete response and 12 achieved a partial response (response rate, 38% [95% confidence interval = 25%-53%]). The median duration of response was 7 months (range, 4-16 months), and the median time to disease progression for all patients was 5 months. Grade 4 neutropenia occurred in 3% of the cycles and in 12% of the patients and was never associated with fever and infection. Common toxic effects were myalgia and arthralgia (94% of the patients; 4% grade 3), peripheral neuropathy (92% of the patients; 8% grade 3), and alopecia (all patients). Pruritus and neuropathy were significantly more frequent and severe, respectively, with the higher dose (P < .01 by chi 2 test). Frequency and severity of other toxic effects were similar at either starting dose. Ten patients had symptoms of neuro-optic toxicity. Only one patient had a grade 2 hypersensitivity reaction. CONCLUSIONS: Paclitaxel at starting doses of 175 and 225 mg/m2 given as a 3-hour infusion can safely be administered to, and is active in women whose disease has progressed after prior treatment with anthracyclines. There was evidence of increased toxicity at the higher dose but no suggestion of better efficacy. IMPLICATION: Paclitaxel by a 3-hour infusion in combination with doxorubicin should be investigated in patients with metastatic breast cancer. Unless randomized trials demonstrate greater efficacy of the more toxic higher dose, it is suggested that a dose of 175-200 mg/m2 be administered with the 3-hour infusion schedule.

Visual evoked potentials findings in course of paclitaxel doxorubicin combination chemotherapy. Report of a case.

The case of a 63 year-old woman affected by advanced breast cancer is reported. Chemotherapy with paclitaxel (200 mg/m2) and doxorubicin (60 mg/m2) every three weeks was given for 8 cycles. The patient progressively developed a sensory-motor neuropathy of axonal type. After the 6th chemotherapy cycle the patient complained of subjective visual symptoms without a relevant reduction of visual acuity. Visual evoked potentials (VEPs) showed an important reduction of the amplitude of the P100 component with a less pronounced delay in latency. Electroretinic responses were normal. These findings suggest an optic neuropathy, confirming previous reports of the occurrence of optic nerve involvement in course of paclitaxel chemotherapy. The role of VEP assessment in course of paclitaxel chemotherapy is discussed comparing clinical and neurophysiological findings in this case with three previously reported cases.