Treatment of metastatic breast cancer by navelbine, mitoxantrone and continuous infusion 5-fluorouracil (FMN regimen): results of a pilot study.

The present pilot study included 31 evaluable patients with metastatic breast cancer. All patients had disease progression following first-line treatment for their metastatic disease (by hormonal treatment or chemotherapy). Twenty patients had previously received Adriamycin as either adjuvant or palliative treatment. The patients were treated by Navelbine 25 mg/m2, Mitoxantrone 6 mg/m2 (both drugs on days 1 and 8) with 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) 300 mg/m2 as continuous 24-hour infusion on days 1 to 14, and to be recycled on day 29. The overall response rate was 58%, and 50% for those who had received prior Adriamycin. The median time to progression was 8.5 months and the 1-year survival rate for the whole group was 45%. Grade III or IV neutropenia was the dose-limiting toxicity being encountered in 28% of the treatment courses with toxic death in 1 patient.