Metastatic breast cancer and its complications

Tamoxifen is now established for use in premenopausal as well as postmenopausal patients. Recent reports have not shown its activity to be enhanced by the addition of either prednisolone, progestogens, or interferon. Reversible ocular toxicity from tamoxifen appears to be more common than had been previously realized. Different schedules giving the same dose intensity of doxorubicin give markedly different pharmacokinetic profiles. Although this does not lead to differences in responses or physical toxicity, it seems to have important implications for quality of life. Taxol is showing impressive activity in advanced breast cancer, and significant response rates have also been reported for carboplatin and podophyllotoxin derivatives. To achieve maximum effectiveness from the cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil combination, attention to schedule and dose intensity has been shown to be important. No new effective cytotoxic combinations have been described. High-dose chemotherapy requiring bone marrow support remains experimental. Further progress has been made in monitoring the response of metastatic bone disease to treatment. The precise significance for patients of the results in many of the papers reviewed is often uncertain because they lack quality-of-life measures; the importance of this approach is emphasized.