Weekly docetaxel in the treatment of elderly patients with advanced breastcancer: A Minnie Pearl Cancer Research Network phase II trial

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of docetaxel administered we ekly to elderly or poor-performance status patients with advanced breast ca ncer. Patients and Methods: Forty-one patients with advanced breast cancer who we re either over the age of 65 or considered to be poor candidates for combin ation chemotherapy received docetaxel 36 mg/m(2) weekly for 6 consecutive w eeks, followed by 2 weeks without treatment. The median age of patients in this trial was 74 years, and 73% of patients had one or more visceral sites of metastases. Seventy-five percent of patients received weekly docetaxel as first-line treatment for metastatic breast cancer, and the other 25% rec eived it as second-line treatment. Thirty-six patients were assessable for efficacy, and all patients were assessed for toxicity. Results: A total of 448 doses of weekly docetaxel were administered to 41 p atients. Thirteen patients (36%) had objective responses to treatment, and an additional 13 patients (36%) had stable disease or minor response. Media n time to progression for responding and stable patients was 7 months (rang e, 3 to 27 months). Median survival for the entire group was 13 months, wit h 1- and 2-year actuarial survival rates of 61% and 29%, respectively. Seve re neutropenia occurred in only 0.4% of courses, and no other hematologic t oxicity was observed. Grade 3/4 fatigue was the most common toxicity, occur ring in 20% of patients. Conclusion: Weekly docetaxel therapy is active and well tolerated by elderl y and/or poor-performance status patients with advanced breast cancer. This treatment can be administered with minimal myelosuppression. Weekly doceta xel provides an additional option for treatment in this difficult subgroup of patients with metastatic breast cancer. Well-tolerated combination regim ens containing weekly docetaxel merit evaluation for this patient populatio n.