Capecitabine for 5-fluorouracil-resistant brain metastases from breast cancer

We report a case in which brain metastases originating from breast cancer r esponded to treatment with oral capecitabine. The metastases had progressed and Karnofsky performance status deteriorated despite whole brain irradiat ion, hormonal treatment, and systemic chemotherapy that included 5-fluorour acil (5-FU). In contrast, 2 months of treatment with oral capecitabine prod uced a partial response, documented by lesion size on magnetic resonance im aging and an improvement in performance status; both measures continued to improve during 11 months of capecitabine treatment.