Doxorubicin plus VP-16-213 for the treatment of refractory breast carcinoma.

Thirty patients with refractory advanced breast cancer who had no prior treatment with doxorubicin or VP-16-213 received doxorubicin 45 mg/m2 I.V. on day 1 and VP-16-213 50 mg/m2 I.V. on days 1 through 5. Courses were repeated every 21 days when hematologic recovery permitted. Among 30 evaluable patients, one had a complete response and 11 had a partial response. Four patients had stabilization of their disease. There was thus a 40% response rate with a median response duration of 146 days (range 35-540). Toxicity included moderate to severe myelosuppression, infections, hemorrhage, and mucositis. In these poor prognoses in previously treated patients, the combination of doxorubicin and VP-16-213 appears to be an effective secondary treatment for metastatic breast cancer.