Cisplatin plus Gemcitabine Chemotherapy in Taxane/Anthracycline-Resistant Metastatic Breast Cancer

Background: The most commonly used chemotherapeutic regimens in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer (MBC) include anthracyclines and taxanes. In our study, we investigated the efficacy and tolerability of cisplatin plus gemcitabine combination chemotherapy regimen in patients with MBC, who exhibited disease progression after anthracycline- and taxane-based chemotherapy. Methods: Thirty-three patients with taxane/anthracycline- resistant MBC have been treated with gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m(2) intravenously and cisplatin 30 mg/m(2) intravenously on days 1 and 8 of a 3-week treatment cycle. Results: Thirty-one patients were assessable for response. One of the 31 patients (3.2%) showed complete response, while 7 patients (22.6%) showed partial response; the objective response rate was 25.8%. Stable and progressive disease was observed in 6 (19.4%) and 17 patients (54.8%), respectively. The median time to progression was 4 months (95% CI 2.15-5.85). The median survival time of all patients was 9.5 months ( 95% CI 7.86-11.14). Conclusion: Gemcitabine and cisplatin combination therapy is moderately active and safe in patients with MBC previously treated with anthracycline and taxanes. Copyright (C) 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel