Docetaxel, gemcitabine and bevacizumab as salvage chemotherapy for HER-2-negative metastatic breast cancer.

Purpose: To evaluate the activity and safety of the docetaxel, gemcitabine and bevacizumab combination, administered biweekly, in pretreated patients with HER-2-negative metastatic breast cancer (MBC).

Patients And Methods: Women with HER-2-negative MBC, and disease progression after at least one prior line of chemotherapy, were treated with docetaxel 50 mg/m², gemcitabine 1,500 mg/m² and bevacizumab 10 mg/kg every 2 weeks. Bevacizumab was continued until disease progression.

Results: Forty-eight patients have been enrolled. Their median age was 61 years, 95.8 % had a performance status 0-1, 83.3 % had hormone receptor-positive disease, and 47.9 % had received one prior line of chemotherapy. All patients were evaluable for toxicity and 45 for response. Partial response was achieved in 20 patients [PR = 44.4 %, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 29.9-59 %] and disease stabilization in 15 (33.3 %). The median progression-free survival was 7.1 months (95 % CI 4.7-9.5 months) and the median overall survival 21.1 months (95 % CI 10.3-31.9 months). Grade 3-4 neutropenia occurred in 19 patients (39.6 %) and febrile neutropenia in 2 (4.2 %). Most common grade 2-3 non-hematologic adverse events included nausea (10.4 %), diarrhea (10.5 %), neurotoxicity (12.5 %) and fatigue (31.3 %), whereas grade 2 hemorrhage and hypertension occurred in 6.3 and 10.4 %, respectively. There were no grade 4 non-hematologic toxicities or toxic deaths.

Conclusion: The combination of docetaxel, gemcitabine and bevacizumab has promising activity and manageable toxicity as salvage chemotherapy for HER-2-negative MBC patients.