Objective: Metastatic breast cancer (MBC) is an incurable disease; the treatment of this
disease prolongs survival, improving the quality of life (QoL) with a balance between efficacy
and toxicity of the treatment. In recent years, treatment with nab-paclitaxel has improved the
already known antitumor activity of conventional paclitaxel, in terms of increased efficacy
and better tolerability. The aim of this study was to evaluate nab-paclitaxel in Italian patients
with MBC.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 90 patients with histologically confirmed diagnosis of MBC. To evaluate the efficacy of nab-paclitaxel, overall survival (OS),
progression-free survival (PFS), and overall response rate were the primary endpoints,
whereas carbohydrate antigen 15.3 (Ca15.3) reduction, QoL, and tolerability were secondary endpoints.
Results: The median OS was 10.4 months, the median PFS was 6.8 months. A considerable
difference Ca15.3 before and after treatment was observed. Descriptive and regression analyses
were done to examine the associations between Ca15.3 response and OS, demonstrating good
correlation, revealing that Ca15.3 reduction is an important predictor of OS.
Conclusion: Nab-paclitaxel is an effective and well-tolerated treatment of patients affected by
MBC. The drug showed an improved tolerability profile. With all the limitations of the observational nature of our results, nab-paclitaxel has proven to be an effective and safe therapeutic
option in patients with MBC