Docetaxel/Anzatax (paclitaxel), A Salvage In Advanced Breast Cancer

According to a small trial a low weekly dose of docetaxel/Anzatax(Paclitaxel) is a viable salvage therapy in pretreated patients with metastatic breast cancer.

A. Gennari and colleagues from the division of medical oncology, department of oncology, University Hospital Santa Chiara, Pisa, Italy, recruited 26 pretreated patients with metastatic breast cancer. The study explored a once weekly versus and a once every three week regimen of docetaxel/Anzatax. All of the patients had previously been treated with anthracyclines, and 19 were pretreated with taxanes.The starting schedule, called A1, consisted of weekly therapy with docetaxel 60 mg/m2 on day 1 plus Anzatax 60 mg/m2 over 1 hour. The goal was for patients to undergo 18 weeks of therapy, and it was considered feasible if at least 70% of the planned doses were given on time and without a reduction. Schedule A2 consisted of similar doses of the drugs administered on days 1 and 8 every 3 weeks. Schedule B consisted of docetaxel 25 mg/m2 followed by Anzatax 40 mg/m2 for 1 hour on days 1 and 8 every 3 weeks for a total of 6 cycles.Twenty-five patients were evaluable for efficacy and toxicity. Of these, six patients began therapy with the A1 schedule. However, this schedule was determined not to be feasible because reductions or omissions were required in 33% of administrations due to grade 2 or higher neutropaenia, mucositis, and/or diarrhoea. As a result, five of the six patients who started on schedule A1 did not go onto A2.Schedule B was a more feasible schedule. Only 16% of the doses were reduced or omitted.Overall, the response rate was 68%, and the median duration of response was 10 months, with a range of 2 to 18 months. The treatment was relatively well-tolerated. Myelosuppression was rare and grade 3 cutaneous toxicity occurred in only two patients. (Source: Doctor’s Guide)