Retrospective Evaluation of the Efficacy of Lapatinib Capecitabine in the Treatment of Metastatic Breast Cancer

Worldwide, breast cancer is the most common malignancy and cause of cancer-related death in women. In the 17%–30% of breast cancer patients who overexpress ErbB2 (HER2), the disease is associated with poorer prognosis, greater risk for disease progression and reductions in both progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Lapatinib is the first dual tyrosine kinase inhibitor of human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2/neu) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). The present study evaluated the efficacy and tolerability of the combination of lapatinib and capecitabine in patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) who progressed after therapy with trastuzumab, a taxane and/or anthracycline. A total of 24 patients with a median age of 56 (34-76) were evaluated retrospectively in 3 centers between September 2010 and May 2018. All the patients had HER2 positive MBC progressing after trastuzumab and chemotherapy including an anthracycline and/or taxane. An overall response rate (ORR) of 29.1% was achieved including 2 complete responses (CR, 8.3%), 5 partial responses (PR, 20.8%), and 7 stable disease (SD, 29.1%). Lapatinib and capecitabine combination therapy is effective and well tolerated in patients with MBC who had progressive disease after trastuzumab, taxane, and/or anthracycline therapy