VINORELBINE COMBINED WITH CAPECITABINE IN THE TREATMENT OF RECURRENT AND METASTATIC BREAST CANCER

Objective To observe the efficacy and toxicity of combination chemotherapy with vinorelbine and capecitabine for advanced and recurrent or metastatic breast cancer. Methods Thirty-three breast-cancer patients who were either refractory to antracene or recurrent were offered vinorelbine 25 mg/m2 on day 1 and day 8,intravenously;capecitabine 1 000 mg/m2,orally,twice a day,30 min after meals,continuous for 14 days followed by interval of 7 days.One cycle was 21 days.For the aggravated,the therapy discontinued after two cycles;for responded and stable ones,the efficacy was assessed after four cycles of treatment.Results The outcomes were as follows: complete remission(1 case),partial remission(6),improvement(8),stable(12),aggravation(6),the effective rate being 45.5%.The common side effects seen were myelosuppression,nausea,vomiting,and hand-foot syndrome. Conclusion Combination of vinorelbine and capecitabine is effective for metastatic breast cancers unresponsive with taxanes or anthracyclines therapy.The adverse reactions were tolerated.