JCancerResClinOncol(2012)138:221–229DOI10.1007/s00432-011-1091-0ORIGINALPAPERMeta-analysisofphaseIIItrialsofdocetaxelaloneorincombinationwithchemotherapyinmetastaticbreastcancerMaurizioBelfiglio•CaterinaFanizza•NicolaTinari•CorradoFicorella•StefanoIacobelli•ClaraNatoli•ConsorzioInteruniversitarioNazionaleperlaBio-Oncologia(CINBO)Received:20June2011/Accepted:3November2011/Publishedonline:18November2011ÓTheAuthor(s)2011.ThisarticleispublishedwithopenaccessatSpringerlink.comAbstractagentplusdocetaxelcomparedwithdocetaxelalone.PurposeWhethercombinationchemotherapyoffersanTreatmentwithdocetaxelaloneisassociatedwithaloweradvantageoversequentialtherapyinmetastaticbreastincidenceofgrade3diarrheaandstomatitis(diarrhea,cancer(MBC)isstillanunsettledissue.PolychemotherapyP=0.011;stomatitis,P=0.0004).regimenscontainingtaxaneshasbeenshowntoincreaseConclusionCombinationchemotherapyregimenswithoverallsurvival(OS),timetotumorprogression(TTP),anddocetaxelshowastatisticallysignificantadvantageforoverallresponserate(ORR)whencomparedwithregimensTTP,butnotforOSandORRinMBC.Thisreviewcon-thatdidnotcontainataxanes,whiletaxane-baseddoubletsfirmsthatitisunlikelythatanysingleagentorcombinationhaveastatisticallysignificantbenefitoversingle-agentchemotherapyregimenwillemergeassuperiorinMBC,taxaneonlyforprogression-freesurvival.However,theduetoitsheterogeneousnature.term‘‘taxanes’’generallyincludesbothpaclitaxelanddocetaxel,drugswithdifferentclinicalactivity.AimofthisKeywordsMetastaticbreastcancerÁMeta-analysisÁworkistocompareOS,TTP,andORRinpatientswithDocetaxelÁTaxanesMBCreceivingdocetaxelaloneorincombinationwithchemotherapyusingaformalmeta-analysis.MethodsWeperformedasystematicreviewofallpub-IntroductionlishedtrialscomparingdocetaxelaloneorincombinationwithotherchemotherapeuticagentsinMBC.Metastaticbreastcancer(MBC)isstillanincurabledis-ResultsThreerandomizedclinicaltrialsincluding1,313ease,evenifmortalityhasbeendecreasingsteadilyinthepatientswereretrieved.Asignifica