A. Adenis et al., PHASE-II STUDY OF A NEW VINCA ALKALOID DERIVATIVE, S12363, IN ADVANCED BREAST-CANCER, Cancer chemotherapy and pharmacology, 35(6), 1995, pp. 527-528
Vinca alkaloids are widely used in the medical treatment of breast can
cer. Our study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic activity of a new vin
ca alkaloid derivative, S12363 (vinfosiltine), which is 36 and 72 time
s more cytotoxic in vitro than vincristine and vinblastine, respective
ly. Because phase I studies did not allow a choice of the best treatme
nt schedule, a randomization was performed between two schedules with
the same dose intensity, that is, 0.3 mg/m(2) given weekly or 0.6 mg/m
(2) given every 2 weeks. A total of 16 patients with advanced breast c
ancer who had failed a first-line treatment without any vinca alkaloid
were entered in the study. Additionally, 6 women received the bimonth
ly regimen as first-line treatment of advanced breast cancer. Altogeth
er, 17 patients received, prior to vinfosiltine, an anthracycline-base
d regimen given either as adjuvant (n = 4) or as first-line palliative
treatment (n = 13). All 22 patients were evaluable for both toxicity
and response. Neutropenia was the main toxic event (maximal toxicity p
er patient) with grade 3 (WHO) toxicity developing in 7/22 patients an
d grade 4, in 8/22. Other severe toxicities included leukopenia (n = 9
), anemia (n = 1), diarrhea (n = 1), constipation (n = 1), and fatigue
(n = 1). No patient achieved a complete or partial response. Vinfosil
tine does not appear to have significant single-agent activity in adva
nced breast cancer at the doses and the schedules used in our study.