Weekly First-Line Chemotherapy of Metastatic Breast Cancer with Cyclophosphamide and Epirubicin

Forty-six patients with metastatic breast cancer who had not received previous chemotherapy for advanced disease entered a phase II trial of weekly chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide (250 mg/m²) + epirubicin (25 mg/m²) for 16 weeks. The overall response rate was 61 % (95 % confidence limits, 47-75 %), with 10 complete and 17 partial responses. Toxicity was mild and confined to nausea and vomiting and asymptomatic neutropenia (except in 2 cases). Sixty-three per cent of patients had no side effects. Weekly cyclophosphamide + epirubicin is an active and nontoxic regimen for patients with metastatic breast cancer who have had no prior anthracycline-containing adjuvant chemotherapy.