Adriamycin, vincristine and mitomycin C as first and second line therapy for advanced breast carcinoma

Forty-three patients with advanced breast cancer were treated with adriamycin, vincristine and mitomycin C at 6 week intervals. Adriamycin 40 mg m-2 and vincristine 1 mg m-2 were given on days 1 and 22: patients treated early in the study received 10 mg m-2 mitomycin C, but in view of repeated treatment delays the dose was reduced to 6 mg m-2. Thirty-two women had received prior hormone therapy and 24 previous chemotherapy. Responses were seen in 15 of 38 evaluable patients (40%) with a further 9 (24%) achieving disease stabilization. Median duration of response was 10 months and of disease stabilization was 5 months. Overall median survival for the whole group was 8 months, but 16 months for the 15 responding patients, five of whom survived beyond 2 yr. Responses were seen more frequently in patients who had received no prior chemotherapy. Myelosuppression may have contributed to three of the five early deaths in the non-pretreated group. Other significant side effects were alopecia, gastrointestinal toxicity and malaise.