Original Article A Phase II Randomized Study of Two Taxanes and Cisplatin for Metastatic Breast Cancer after Anthracycline: A Final Analysis

Objective: The purpose of the study is to compare two taxanes/cisplatin combinations for metastatic breast cancer in terms of time to disease progression, response rates and toxicity. Methods: Between April 2000 and December 2002, 101 patients with advanced breast carci-noma, previously treated with an anthracycline but not with a taxane, were enrolled. Fifty patients were treated with docetaxel 60 mg/m2 and cisplatin 50 mg/m2, and 51 patients were treated with paclitaxel 175 mg/m2 and cisplatin 50 mg/m2. Each cycle repeated every 3 weeks. Results: The overall response rate was 62.5 and 42.6 % in the docetaxel and palcitaxel groups respectively (P 0.06). Median time to disease progression was 9.8 and 6.5 months in docetaxel and paclitaxel groups respectively (P 0.15). The median overall survival time was 22.7 months in the docetaxel arm and 22.4 months in the paclitaxel arm. Grade 3/4 arthralgia/myalgia, sensory neuropathy and anemia occurred more frequently in the paclitaxel arm, while more mucositis, fatigue and neutropenia occurred in the docetaxel arm. Conclusion: Taxane/cisplatin combinations were active for advanced breast cancer, while there appeared to be evidence in favor of a docetaxel/cisplatin combination. The toxicity in favor of docetaxel/cisplatin warrants future first-line clinical trials. Key words: metastatic breast cancer – taxanes – platinum – chemotherap