[New combination chemotherapies for breast cancer]

Doxorubicin has been a pivotal role in combination chemotherapy for breast cancer (BC) since 1970's. Over the past decade, a number of new and effective cytotoxic agents have become available for the treatment of breast cancer. The most active agents may be the taxanes, paclitaxel and docetaxel, because their clinical efficacy exceeds that of the anthracyclines, previously the most effective agents against breast cancer. To obtain better quality of life and longer survival for our patients, we need to improve our therapeutic strategy and tactics by developing new combination chemotherapies using taxanes, anthracyclines, and other new promising agents such as vinorelbine, capecitabine, S-1, gemcitabine, liposomal doxorubicin, MTA and so on. Recombinant humanized anti-HER 2 monoclonal antibody is also very active for patients with BC, when used together with taxanes, showing survival advantage compared with taxanes alone. Extensive clinical investigations have been performing with such active agents and biotherapeutics.