Evaluation of the Effect of Combination Chemotherapy with Five-day Infusion of Fluorouracil plus Vinorelbine in Pretreated Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients

Ezz El Din, Mai; Salah, Rasha; Kamel, Tarek; Nagy, Ahmed

doi:10.21608/ejhm.2022.239189

Evaluation of the Effect of Combination Chemotherapy with Five-day Infusion of Fluorouracil plus Vinorelbine in Pretreated Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

10.21608/ejhm.2022.239189

Abstract

Background: Continuous infusion (CI) of 5-fluorouracil (5FU) and vinorelbine, individually and in combination, has been proven in several studies to be active and well tolerated for advanced pretreated breast cancer.
Objective: This study sought to evaluate the clinical activity and side effects of their combination in pretreated metastatic breast cancer patients.
Patients and Methods: This retrospective study collected and analysed the medical records of fifty-four patients who attended El-Salam Oncology Center and Ain Shams University Hospitals, Department of Clinical Oncology during the period from July 2013 to June 2018. Combination chemotherapy received was 5FU 600 mg/m²/d for 5 consecutive days as a CI and vinorelbine 25 mg/m²on days 1 and 5 as a short intravenous (IV) infusion every 3 weeks.
Results: Eleven (20.4%) complete responses, 20 (37%) partial responses and 14 (25.9%) stable disease were documented, accounting for a clinical benefit rate of 83.3%. The median progression free survival was 6.8 months. The median overall survival (mOS) was 25.8 months. Treatment was well tolerated, with grade 3 anemia, febrile neutropenia and stomatitis in 9.3%, 5.6% and 1.9% respectively as the main adverse reactions.
Conclusions: This drug combination is active in metastatic previously treated breast cancer patients with an acceptable toxicity profile and continues to be present in the treatment armamentarium in this setting.

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