Docetaxel and cisplatin combination chemotherapy in metastatic breast cancer patients with previous exposure to anthracyclines

We evaluated the efficacy and safety of the combination of docetaxel and cisplatin in metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients previously treated with anthracycline-containing regimens. Between June 1999 and December 2002, 50 female MBC patients (median age 43 years; range 29-64) received docetaxel 75 mg/m2 and cisplatin 75 mg/m2 on day 1 of each 4-week cycle. A total of 226 cycles (median four cycles per patient) were administered as first-line (23 patients) or second-line (27 patients) treatment. Five patients (10%) achieved a complete response (CR) and 15 (30%) had partial responses (PR), giving an overall response rate of 40% (95% CI, 26.4∼53.6%). The median duration of response was 6.1 months (range, 2.3∼29.2+ months). With a median follow-up of 15.9 months, median time to progression was 6.2 months (range 1∼22.5+ months). Toxicities included grades III and IV neutropenia in nine (18%) and ten (20%) patients, respectively, and febrile neutropenia in seven patients (14%). In conclusion, our data show that docetaxel plus cisplatin is effective with the manageable toxicity profile in MBC patients previously treated with anthracyclines.