| Title | Capecitabine in the routine treatment of advanced breast cancer: results from a non-interventional observational study in 870 patients. | | Author(s) | Siedentopf F, Gohler T, Hesse T, Nusch A, Sulberg H | | Institution | Praxis fur Gynakologie Dr. Schoenegg, Berlin, Germany. f.siedentopf@drk-kliniken-berlin.de | | Source | Onkologie 2009 Nov; 32(11):631-6. | | Abstract | BACKGROUND: This observational study evaluated patient characteristics, treatment schedule and setting, efficacy and tolerability of capecitabine in routine clinical practice in Germany.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with advanced breast cancer pretreated with or ineligible for anthracycline-containing therapy were treated with capecitabine. Data were collected until disease progression or completion of 12 cycles (with long-term follow-up in progression-free patients).
RESULTS: 846 of the 870 patients enrolled between 2002 and 2007 were eligible. Capecitabine was administered as monotherapy in 64% (median starting dose 1,070 mg/m(2) bis in diem (b.i.d.)) and combination chemotherapy (typically with vinorelbine or docetaxel) in 36% (median starting dose 987 mg/m(2) b.i.d.). Capecitabine was given as first-line therapy in 35% of patients. Objective response rate was 41% and median progression-free survival was 7.5 months. Good performance status at baseline was a significant predictor of efficacy. The most common non-hematological toxicity was hand-foot syndrome (all grades: 54%; grade 3: 7%). Myelosuppression and alopecia were substantially less common with capecitabine monotherapy than with capecitabine combination regimens.
CONCLUSIONS: Capecitabine, alone or in combination, is a feasible, effective treatment for breast cancer. Our findings in real-life clinical practice compare favorably with results from interventional studies, perhaps reflecting the longer treatment duration possible at more tolerable doses. | | Language | eng | | Pub Type(s) | Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
| | PubMed ID | 19887866 |
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