Experience with eribulin in the treatment of elderly women with metastatic breast cancer: case studies.

Although advancing age can greatly increase the complexities of treating metastatic breast cancer, chronological age alone is insufficient to determine the type or intensity of treatment. Older patients require an individualized approach that takes into account the patient's physical ability, social circumstances and mental capacity to tolerate treatment. This section features three older women treated with eribulin for metastatic breast cancer.

The role of immunohistochemistry in breast cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy: an old tool with an enduring prognostic value.

Background: To assess the molecular subtypes determined by hormonal receptors (HR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status and the role of proliferation measured by the Ki-67 marker as predictive and prognostic factors in breast cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Methods: A total of 127 breast cancer patients were treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy every 2 weeks as part of 2 studies. Study A consisted of the administration of Adriamycin (40 mg/m(2)) on day 1 plus paclitaxel (150 mg/m(2)) and gemcitabine 2000 mg/m(2)) on day 2 for 6 cycles (n = 54).

Tumour molecular subtyping according to hormone receptors and HER2 status defines different pathological complete response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced breast cancer.

Purpose: To study the role of breast cancer molecular subtypes according to hormone receptors and HER2 status as a predictive factor for pathological complete response (pCR) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Patients And Methods: Eligible patients received one of the two chemotherapy schedules every two weeks with prophylactic growth factor support; schedule A: epirubicin 90 mg/m2-cyclophosphamide 600 mg/m2 d1 for 3 cycles followed by a second sequence with paclitaxel (P) 150 mg/ m2-gemcitabine (G) 2500 mg/m2 d1+/-trastuzumab (T) 2 mg/kg/week according to HER2 status (n=73); schedule B: adriamycin (40 mg/m2) d1 plus P (150 mg/m2)-G (2000 mg/m2) d2 for 6 cycles (n=54). Subsequently, patients underwent surgery, radiotherapy and/or adjuvant hormonal therapy according to standard practice.

Triplet chemotherapy combination with gemcitabine, cisplatin and ifosfamide in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer: phase II study.

A phase II study was conducted to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the combination GIP (gemcitabine, ifosfamide, and cisplatin) for the treatment of patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Thirty patients with stage III B/IV NSCLC were treated with a combination of GIP. Patients received gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m2 administered intravenously on days 1 and 8, ifosfamide 3,500 mg/m2 on day 2, and cisplatin 80 mg/m2 on day 2, repeated every 21 days.