Phase II Study With Abraxane, Bevacizumab and Carboplatin in Triple Negative Metastatic Breast Cancer

Anthracycline-based chemotherapy is widely used as adjuvant treatment for breast cancer. In addition to the challenge posed by anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity, there are issues surrounding previous treatment with anthracyclines which limit its utility in the metastatic disease setting. Many patients with advanced disease will have had prior anthracycline-based adjuvant therapy, may have reached a maximum cumulative lifetime dose, or developed refractory disease, creating an obvious need for non-anthracycline treatment strategies.3 Platinum- and taxane-based chemotherapies as first-line therapy for metastatic breast cancer have demonstrated significant activity, producing single-agent response rates \> 50%; in combination these rates increased to \> 60% in both previously untreated and in patients who previously received anthracyclines.3 However, overall survival has remained relatively unchanged.4 As there is currently no standard of care for patients with metastatic breast cancer, various physical and psychological factors must be considered when evaluating chemotherapy treatment options, including the patient's tumor biology and growth rate, presence and extent of metastases, history of prior treatment and response, sensitivity and tolerance to therapy, and quality of life.2 Strategies to develop combination, higher dose, or sequential regimens using these active agents, while improving response rates and/or time to progression, may produce increased toxicity without increased survival.2 Because metastatic breast cancer remains essentially incurable using cytotoxic therapy alone, the study of targeted biologics offers new opportunities to enhance drug delivery via their ability to regulate specific receptors that are associated with clinically aggressive disease processes.