A phase I-II study on a gemcitabine-cyclophosphamide-fluorouracil/folinic acid triplet combination in anthracycline- and taxane-refractory breast cancer patients.

PURPOSE

To define the cyclophosphamide (CTX) maximal tolerated dose when combined with fixed doses of gemcitabine, fluorouracil (5-FU) and folinic acid (leucovorin, LFA) in metastatic breast cancer patients pretreated with anthracyclines and taxanes.

METHODS

Metastatic breast cancer patients aged < or = 75 years, with ECOG performance status 0-2, were eligible, provided that they had received previous anthracycline- and taxane-based chemotherapy for the advanced disease. Chemotherapy consisted of gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m(2), 5-FU 425 mg/m(2), LFA 100 mg/m(2) and escalating doses of CTX, starting from 500 mg/m(2), on days 1 and 8 every 3 weeks. The dose escalation was stopped if dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) occurred in > 33% of patients of a given cohort. After the definition of DLT, a further escalation with the addition of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF; on days 3-5 and 10-12) was planned.

RESULTS

Since March 1999, 69 patients have entered this trial through seven different cohorts. The dose escalation was stopped at the CTX dose of 600 mg/m(2) since 3/6 patients showed DLT. A further dose escalation was attempted in the presence of G-CSF support. A CTX dose of 800 mg/m(2) proved to be safe and was chosen for the phase II. A total of 33 patients were treated at this dose level. The treatment was fairly well tolerated, grade 3-4 neutropenia and thrombocytopenia occurring in 38 and 16% of patients, respectively. No cases of sepsis or bleeding were registered. Four patients required a packed red blood cell transfusion. Severe nonhematologic toxicity was also uncommon, occurring in 10 patients. Three complete and 24 partial responses were recorded for an overall response rate of 38% (95% CI = 26-50). Two complete and 12 partial responses were recorded in the 33 patients treated in the phase II for an overall response rate (ORR) of 42% (95% CI = 25-61).

CONCLUSIONS

The gemcitabine-CTX-5-FU/LFA combination is a well-tolerated treatment for poor-prognosis breast cancer patients with previous exposure to anthracyclines and taxanes. With the addition of G-CSF, a cumulative CTX dose of 1,600 mg/m(2) can be safely delivered every 3 weeks. The evidence of an ORR approaching 40% is very promising and justifies further evaluations in this subset of patients.