Vinorelbine combined with capecitabine in the treatment of advanced and metastatic breast cancer

Purpose:To study the efficiency and safety on vinorelbine combined with capecitabine in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. Methods:Twenty-eight patients with measurable lesions of metestetic breast cancer received vinorelbine 6 mg/m 2 d 1-5 civ,cycles were repeated every 21 days. Patients received capecitabine for 2-4 cycles at the same time. All patients received more than one course of chemotherapy regimens and 19 patients had adriamycin and (or) paclitaxel treatment. Results:Thirteen patients received two cycles treatment and fifteen patients received four cycles of treatment. Complete response in one patient,partial response in six patients,minor response in seven patients,stable response in seven patients and progressive disease in seven patients were observed. Overall responsed rate was 50%.The common side effects were neutronpenia,hand-foot syndrome,skin pigmentation,fatigue. Conclusions:The combination of vinorelbine and capecitabine in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer was effective and the toxicities were tolerable. It is possible that this regimen is an ideal second line chemotherapy for metastatic breast cancer.