NEW ADVANCES IN THE TREATMENT OF BREAST CANCER: THE ROLE EPOTHILONES

The review considers information about the efficacy and safety of Ixabepilone as a monotherapy and as a component of combination therapy for advanced breast cancer. Successful treatment of metastatic breast cancer is often confounded by resistance to chemotherapy, in particular anthracyclines and taxanes. The limited number of effective treatment options for patients with more aggressive biological subtypes, such as triple-negative metastatic breast cancer, is especially important. A therapy clinically proven to be effective in this subtype would be of great value. Ixabepilone, a novel synthetic lactam analog of epothilone B, demonstrated better clinical outcomes in metastatic disease, particularly in triple-negative breast cancer and “intensivelytreated” variant. Most recently, studies have shown the activity of ixabepilone in the neoadjuvant setting, suggesting a role for this drug in primary disease.