Phase II clinical evaluation of AZQ in metastatic breast cancer

Thirty-three patients with metastatic breast cancer who have failed prior combination chemotherapy including adriamycin, cyclophosphamide, 5-fluorouracil and methotrexate, were treated with AZQ given on a 5-day I.V. schedule repeated every 4 weeks. The starting doses were 6 or 8 mg/m2/day for poor- and good-risk patients, respectively. There were two partial responses among 29 evaluable patients. Both had soft tissue and/or lymph node involvement. Six patients had stable disease. Myelosuppression, predominantly thrombocytopenia, was dose-limiting. Other toxicities were mild, including nausea, vomiting, anorexia, diarrhea, stomatitis, and malaise. Our results indicate that AZQ given on the 5-day schedule is unlikely to be effective in the treatment of refractory breast cancer.