ABSTRACT
Background and purpose:Chemotherapy including anthracyclin and taxanes is one of the effective regimens for patients with advanced breast cancer, but 20%-30% patients do not achieve a satisfactory curative effect .At present, there is no unified standard second-line chemotherapy regimen for these patients. We studied the efficacy and toxicity of gemcitabin plus capecitabine in the treatment of the patients with advanced breast cancer who had failed in response to the treatment of anthracyclin and taxanes chemotherapy. Methods:Gemcitabin 1 000 mg/m2 iv infusion at d1,8 and capecitabine 950 mg/m2 po tid at d1-14.The interval between the two cycles was 3 weeks. The assessment for clinical effect and side effect was conducted for the patients with completion of 2 cycles of chemotherapy at least.Results:30 female patients were enrolled in this trial ,overall response rate was 46.7%,with 6.7% complete response (2/30)and 40% partial response (12/30). Stable disease was seen in 42.3%(13/30),and disease progression in 10% (3/30).Median time to progression was 9 months, and median overall survival was 12.5 months. The main toxicities were myelosuppression and hand-foot syndrome.Conclusions:Gemcitabin plus capecitabine is effective for the patients with advanced breast cancer who failed in the treatment of anthracyclin and taxanes chemotherapy, and its side effect is tolerable.