Adriamycin (doxorubicin), vinblastine, and mitomycin C combination chemotherapy in refractory breast carcinoma

Twenty‐seven evaluable patients with refractory, metastatic breast carcinoma were treated with Adriamycin (doxorubicin) 30 mg/m² and vinblastine 6 mg/m² intravenously on days 1 and 28 every 8 weeks, and mitomycin C 10 mg/m² intravenously on day 1 every 8 weeks (AVM). There were three complete and six partial responses for a total response rate of 33%. In addition, 2 patients had minimal responses, and 10 patients achieved disease stabilization. Median time to disease progression for responders was 116 days (range, 49–812+ days). Drug toxicity was tolerable: 12 patients (44%) experienced significant bone marrow suppression. There were no drug‐related deaths. Although AVM appears to be an active drug combination in heavily pretreated patients with metastatic breast carcinoma, the contribution of vinblastine and mitomycin C to single agent Adriamycin in previously treated patients is not clear from this study.