High-dose pre-SCT vinorelbine-paclitaxel regimen safe and effective.

2004 JAN 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A high-dose VNB-PTX regimen is safe and effective for breast cancer patients prior to stem-cell transplantation.

In a recent study, scientists in Italy evaluated "the safety, activity and peripheral blood progenitor cell-mobilizing capability of a dose-dense combination of vinorelbine (VNB) and paclitaxel (PTX) as first-line chemotherapy for patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC)."

"Forty-three MBC patients were submitted to four cycles of VNB 30 mg/m[superscript]2 and PTX 175 mg/m[superscript]2 intravenously, every two weeks, as the first induction step of a tandem high-dose chemotherapy program," explained A. Ballestrero and coauthors at the University of Genoa. "Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) 5 microg/kg was administered daily from day +5 to +10 in order to accelerate hematopoietic recovery, or 48 hours after the last VNB-PTX when a leukapheresis was planned (after the third or fourth cycle).

"A total of 172 cycles were administered. The mean delivered dose-intensity of VNB and PTX was 14.7 and 86 mg/m[superscript]2/week, respectively (98% of the planned dose-intensity)," according to the report. "The main per-patient toxicities were: peripheral neurotoxicity (G1/2 60%, G3 5%), constipation (G1/2 10%), oral mucositis (G1/2 20%), and asthenia (G1/2 35%). Hematological toxicity was unremarkable, except for anemia with hemoglobin (Hb) values

"Two complete (5.1%) and 24 partial (61.5%) responses were observed in 39 assessable patients, ...