Background. We report our experience with vinorelbine, a widely used chemotherapeutic, in unselected metastatic breast cancer patients treated in clinical routine. Patients and Methods. The data of all patients with metastatic breast cancer receiving vinorelbine with or without trastuzumab during a six year period were reviewed. Patients received vinorelbine intravenous 25–30？mg/m2 or 60–80？mg/m2 orally in days 1 and 8 of a 21 day cycle. Results. Eighty-seven women were included. Sixty-two patients received vinorelbine alone and 25 patients received vinorelbine in combination with trastuzumab. In 67 patients this was the first line treatment for metastatic disease and in 20 patients it was 2nd or later line of treatment. The median TTP was six months (range: 1–45). The median overall survival was 11.5 months (range: 1–83). Seventy patients were evaluable for response. In patients receiving first line treatment 44.4% had a response while in the second and subsequent lines setting 12.5% of patients responded ( ). Objective response was obtained in 63.6% of patients receiving concomitant trastuzumab and in 25% of patients receiving vinorelbine alone ( ). Conclusion. This study confirms a high disease control rate. Response rate and TTP were superior in first line treatment compared to subsequent lines. 1. Introduction Breast carcinoma is the most common female cancer and among the most frequent causes of cancer mortality in women worldwide [1, 2]. Metastatic breast cancer is considered incurable with median survival estimates of about 2 to 3 years, but treatments with endocrine, cytotoxic, or targeted therapies can improve or maintain the quality of life and prolong survival. Vinorelbine is one of the most widely used drugs in metastatic breast cancer. With the increasing use of anthracyclines and taxanes in the adjuvant setting there is a trend on advancing other drugs such as vinorelbine and capecitabine in earlier lines of treatment in the metastatic setting. Vinorelbine belongs to the family of vinca alkaloids together with vincristine, vinblastine, vindesine, and vinflunine [3]. All drugs of the vinca family share their mechanism of action, metabolism by hepatic disposition, and adverse effects profile. Vinorelbine differs from the older drugs of the family, vincristine and vinblastine, in that it is semisynthetic and has a higher affinity for tubulin and lipophilicity [3]. Progress in molecular biology has led to characterization of molecular subtypes of breast cancer based on genomic profiling. Surrogate clinically used subsets are characterized by
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