Neoadjuvant Gemcitabine Therapy for Breast Cancer

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy has become a standard treatment in the management of locally advanced breast cancer. Patients with earlier-stage disease may also benefit from neoadjuvant treatment in terms of improved rates of breast-conserving surgery and thus better quality of life. Gemcitabine is a pyri...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Clinical breast cancer 2002-05, Vol.3, p.S39-S44
Main Authors: Sánchez-Rovira, Pedro, Jaén, Ana, Dueñas, Rosario, Porras, Ignacio, Martínez, Esther, Medina, Begoña, Mohedano, Nicolás, Fernández, Margarita, Lozano, Ana
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - therapeutic use
Breast Neoplasms - drug therapy
Breast Neoplasms - pathology
Clinical Trials, Phase II as Topic
Deoxycytidine - administration & dosage
Deoxycytidine - analogs & derivatives
Doxorubicin
Doxorubicin - administration & dosage
Epirubicin
Epirubicin - administration & dosage
Female
Gemcitabine
HER2/ neu overexpression
Humans
Neoadjuvant Therapy
Neoplasm Metastasis
Neoplasm Recurrence, Local
Paclitaxel - administration & dosage
Taxanes
Treatment Outcome
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Summary:Neoadjuvant chemotherapy has become a standard treatment in the management of locally advanced breast cancer. Patients with earlier-stage disease may also benefit from neoadjuvant treatment in terms of improved rates of breast-conserving surgery and thus better quality of life. Gemcitabine is a pyrimidine analogue that has shown activity in a variety of solid tumors, a good toxicity profile, and nonoverlapping toxicity with other chemotherapeutic agents. Several phase II/III studies are assessing gemcitabine combined with anthracyclines, taxanes, and/or vinorelbine both in the neoadjuvant and metastatic disease settings. This article reviews developments in neoadjuvant use of gemcitabine in combination with anthracyclines and taxanes. Several phase II trials of gemcitabine combined with doxorubicin/epirubicin or with doxorubicin/paclitaxel have been carried out. Preliminary findings demonstrate increased complete response rates and good tolerability of these regimens in patients with breast cancer.
ISSN:1526-8209
1938-0666
DOI:10.3816/CBC.2002.s.009