[Chemotherapy of cancer of the breast in the metastatic phase]

Metastatic breast adenocarcinoma is a very chemosensitive tumor. Polychemotherapy (CT) is more active than mono-CT inducing a 50-60% response rate in naive chemotherapy patients. The response rate is increased by adding hormonotherapy (HT) to CT in hormone-receptors positive patients. Whether or not HT and CT should be concomitant or consecutive is still questionable. The overall survival remains poor (22-30 months) and no improvement happened during the last decades. A hope for the future is possible from 2 different concepts: high dose chemotherapy or intermittent CT with successive short inductions treatment and no maintenance therapy.