8 months) compared with the PRT062607 supplier control arms (2.1 months) (P = 0.01). OS was slightly higher with PLD (11 months) versus control arm (9 months), albeit not statistically significant (P = 0.93). The objective response rate was similar: 10% for PLD versus 12% for the control arm. More recently an Austrian observational study was published [50] in which 129

Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical patients with metastatic breast cancer treated with PLD were analyzed. 70% presented 2 or more cardiovascular risk factors. Despite this, only 4% of patients had some degree of cardiotoxicity and only 2 cases of clinical heart failure were reported. Alba et al. [51], on behalf of GEICAM, published a Phase III study exploring the role of PLD as maintenance therapy. Eligible patients had previously received a sequential scheme based on

3 cycles of doxorubicin 75mg/m2 followed by 3 more cycles of docetaxel 100mg/m2. Patients, who had not progressed during this first part, were randomized to receive pegylated liposomal doxorubicin 40mg/m2× 6 cycles or nothing. TTP from randomization of the 155 Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical p was 8.4 versus 5.1 months favouring the maintenance treatment arm (P Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical = 0.0002). No differences in OS were found. Six patients had reduced LVEF ≥ 10%, 5 of them in the arm of PLD. In 2 of the patients treated with PLD, a LVEF reduction below 50% during treatment was found, although both recovered within 6 months. There was no clinical cardiac Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical toxicity. 5. Liposomal Anthracyclines and Trastuzumab In HER2-postive breast cancer, the addition of trastuzumab to chemotherapy significantly increases response rate, time to progression, and overall survival compared with chemotherapy alone. However, when trastuzumab is combined with

anthracyclines there is an increased risk of cardiac toxicity. Slamon et al. [40] randomized 469p with metastatic breast cancer and HER2 overexpression to receive standard treatment (anthracyclines/cyclophosphamide or Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical paclitaxel) with or without trastuzumab. The addition of trastuzumab increased PFS (7.4 months versus 4.6 months, P < 0.001) and OS (25.1 versus 20.3 months, P = 0.046), but with an increased rate of cardiotoxicity in the group receiving the anthracycline and trastuzumab combination (27%). These results limited the use of anthracyclines in HER2-positive breast cancer, and in consequence non-anthracycline-based regimens such as TCH [52, 53] were designed. As anthracyclines showed a high level of activity in this subgroup of patients, other strategies next were developed also to design regimens using less cardiotoxic anthracyclines such as epirubicin (a less cardiotoxic analog than doxorubicin) at limited doses or liposomal anthracyclines in combination with trastuzumab [54] which will be further analyzed. Several studies with a small number of patients explored the viability of combination regimens with liposomal anthracyclines and trastuzumab in metastatic breast cancer.