Oral UFT and cyclophosphamide combination chemotherapy for metastatic breast cancer

Background: Effective long-term chemotherapy yielding good quality of life is essential. The clinical benefits of oral UFT and cyclophosphamide (CPA) combination chemotherapy for metastatic breast cancer (MBC) were evaluated. Patients and Methods: Twenty cases with MBC were enrolled. The mean age was 54 years. Five cases had loco-regional and others had distant metastasis. Nineteen cases had previous therapies. Daily treatment consisted of UFT (300 to 400 mg/body) and CPA (100 to 150 mg/body), both given orally. Results: The treatment period ranged from 4 to 80 weeks. The response rate was 35%, while it was 65% in the "stable disease> 6months" category. The mean time to the first sign of response was 7 weeks and the time to tumor progression was 3 7 weeks. The frequent adverse effects were leukocytopenia (55%) and gastrointestinal symptoms (35%). The incidence of adverse grade greater than or equal to3 effects was 25%. Conclusion: Oral UFT and CPA combination chemotherapy may be suitable for MBC.