Mitomycin C and capecitabine combination (MiXe) in heavily pretreated metastatic breast cancer patients. A dose-finding study.

Background: No standard chemotherapy has been defined for metastatic breast cancer patients pretreated with anthracyclines and taxanes. In preclinical studies, mitomycin C (MMC) and capecitabine showed a synergistic effect by up-regulation of thymidine phosphorylase, and both drugs were active against breast cancer with a lack of overlapping toxicity, making their combination a well-tolerated regimen.

Patients And Methods: A dose-finding study was carried out in order to determine the maximum tolerable dose of MMC combined with fixed-dose capecitabine and to describe the dose-limiting toxicities.