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Breast Cancer (Expert Forum)
combination of taxol and carboplatin
Questions posted in the Breast Cancer Forum are answered by medical professionals from The Cleveland Clinic. Topics include Breast Biopsy, Chemotherapy, Hormone Therapy, Lumps, Lumpectomy, Lymph node dissection, Lymphedema, Mammograms, Mastectomy, Radiation Therapy, Reconstruction, Self Breast Exam, and Surgery.
combination of taxol and carboplatin
by maggie1, Apr 05, 2001 12:00AM
I have recently been switched to this combination as taxol, 5fu and leukovorn had essentially become ineffective in treating my stage 4 breast cancer. i can find no studies where this is being used. what information do you have regarding the % of CR, PR, SD in these protocol for stage 4 breast cancer?
Doctor's Answer
by CCF-RN,MSN-JS, Apr 09, 2001 12:00AM
Taxol and Carboplatin combination has been widely used in the treatment of ovarian and lung cancers, in my search I did find references to this combination used for the treatment of advanced breast cancer.
This combination was reported at the 23rd annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in December, 2000 by Dr. David Loesch, MD the lead investigator of this study. The study was led by the research group within US Oncology Inc. and enrolled 100 patients with advanced breast cancer between November 1998 and August 1999. Over 60 percent of these patients had received prior adjuvant chemotherapy (not prior chemotherapy for advanced breast cancer). The results showed 60 percent response rate, with 8 percent of the patients achieving complete disappearance of disease. No mention was made as to the length of time of the response. There were relatively low side effects in patients treated with taxol and carboplatin.” In this study the taxol and carboplatin were given on a weekly basis.
An abstract of a Phase II study done by a group from Greece, Fountzilas G, et al. “First-line chemotherapy with paclitaxel by three-hour infusion and carboplatin in advanced breast cancer” was from the Annals of Oncology 1998 Sep;9(9):1031-4. Their conclusions were that “the combination of taxol and carboplatin has moderate activity in advanced breast cancer and can be easily delivered on an outpatient basis with manageable toxicity”.
This combination was reported at the 23rd annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in December, 2000 by Dr. David Loesch, MD the lead investigator of this study. The study was led by the research group within US Oncology Inc. and enrolled 100 patients with advanced breast cancer between November 1998 and August 1999. Over 60 percent of these patients had received prior adjuvant chemotherapy (not prior chemotherapy for advanced breast cancer). The results showed 60 percent response rate, with 8 percent of the patients achieving complete disappearance of disease. No mention was made as to the length of time of the response. There were relatively low side effects in patients treated with taxol and carboplatin.” In this study the taxol and carboplatin were given on a weekly basis.
An abstract of a Phase II study done by a group from Greece, Fountzilas G, et al. “First-line chemotherapy with paclitaxel by three-hour infusion and carboplatin in advanced breast cancer” was from the Annals of Oncology 1998 Sep;9(9):1031-4. Their conclusions were that “the combination of taxol and carboplatin has moderate activity in advanced breast cancer and can be easily delivered on an outpatient basis with manageable toxicity”.
I am sorry the 5FU and Lukovorin has stopped working but there ARE other drugs. Have you tried Xeloda? Pill form; easy to take with managable side effects. Also ask your doctor about Navelbine -- I have dear friends who are on it for bone and lung mets (different cases). You could also post a query about treatments at www.bcans.org where there are MANY wonderful stage IV survivors.
Hang in there!