A phase II trial with 142 patients demonstrated that therapy with docetaxel plus epirubicin is highly active first-line therapy for metastatic breast cancer, with acceptable toxicity profile. Recently initial therapy of metastatic breast cancer with paclitaxel plus bevacizumab demonstrated prolonged progression-free survival, as compared with paclitaxel alone. This study will evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of docetaxel-epirubicin combination plus bevacizumab as first line treatment in patients with metastatic and HER2 negative breast cancer. Furthermore, the efficacy of the combination therapy will be correlated with the presence of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in this population.
