[Metastatic breast cancer treated with trastuzumab and paclitaxel--a case report with clinically complete response]

A 60-year-old woman who had undergone a total glandectomy for non-invasive ductal carcinoma of the left breast at the age of 56 in another hospital had a local recurrence in the left preserved breast. The patient was referred to our hospital and underwent a mastectomy. After surgery, treatment of UFT and CPA was started. Seven months after surgery, metastasis occurred at the left supraclavicular lymph node, and CPA, THP-adriamycine and 5-FU therapy was started. Fourteen months after surgery, skin redness of the left upper arm, the left chest wall and contralateral breast, and a contralateral axillary lymph node swelling were recognized. Neither docetaxel nor mitoxantrone-combined therapy was effective. Trastuzumab therapy was started because of HER2 overexpression by immunohistochemistry, and partial response was received after 7 weeks. Four months later, multiple nodules in the chest wall were recognized, and weekly treatment of trastuzumab and paclitaxel was started. Skin redness and multiple nodules in the chest wall completely disappeared after 3 months. No recurrence has been found for 14 months.