Breast cancer is the most common malignancy of women in the developed world and is the second most common cause of cancer death. Despite improvements in adjuvant treatment, recurrent metastatic disease remains a significant problem and is rarely if ever curable, with a median survival of 2 years. Chemotherapy is recommended if visceral metastatic disease is predominant and if hormonal manipulation has failed. The most active agents are the anthracyclines (doxorubicin, epirubicin) and the taxanes (paclitaxel, docetaxel), with response rates of 20%-40% as single agents.[14] Higher response rates are possible with drug combinations, but these are generally associated with increased toxicity and demonstrate no improvement in survival. Following progression of disease after first- and second-line treatment with anthracyclines and taxanes, it is doubtful whether further chemotherapy is of benefit, as increased toxicity and diminished quality of life generally outweigh any gains from tumor regression. In this palliative setting, treatment goals can be defined as: (1) reduction of cancer-related symptoms, (2) minimization of drug-related side-effects, (3) maintenance of quality of life, (4) improved convenience of treatment, and (5) maximized duration of survival. This is a setting where an oral agent with relatively mild toxicities would be very useful. One woman speaks out May 2000 Cancer Cell, 2/02 JCO, 10/03 Abstract # 6081 ASCO, 2004 Phase II Trials Outcomes Compared to Subsq RCT's Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.