[Combination chemotherapy using low-dose epirubicin and vindesine in patients with metastatic breast cancer]

The therapeutic efficacy of a regimen containing epirubicin (EPI) and vindesine (VDS) was evaluated in patients with breast cancer who were given a dose of 20 mg EPI and 3 mg VDS every 2 weeks. Daily doses of 400 mg UFT and 20 mg tamoxifen (1,200 mg MPA) were also administered. Fifteen patients were evaluable for response, and the results were as follows. 1) Four patients obtained a complete response (CR), and 3 a partial response (PR), giving a response rate of 46.7%. 2) The mean duration of response was 8.6 months at the time of writing. 3) Leukopenia (less than 3,000) was encountered in 60%, but this was generally mild and the regimen was well tolerated. These preliminary results showed the efficacy of this regimen, although further studies will be required.