Phase II study of irinotecan and temozolomide in breast cancer patients with progressing central nervous system disease

Purpose Breast cancer patients with progressing central nervous system (CNS) disease have limited treatment options. Few chemotherapy drugs with activity in breast cancer have well-documented CNS penetration. This phase 2 trial evaluated efficacy and safety of irinotecan 125 mg/m 2 on days 1 and 15 with temozolomide 100 mg/m 2 days 1–7 and days 15–21 of a 28 day cycle. Methods Breast cancer patients of any biological subtype and progressing brain metastases and/or leptomeningeal disease (LMD) were eligible. The primary endpoint was CNS response rate. Secondary endpoints were clinical benefit rate (CBR), time to progression (TTP), and overall survival (OS). Imaging studies evaluating intracranial and extracranial response were performed every 8 weeks. Results Thirty patients were evaluable for safety and efficacy. The most common hematologic and non-hematologic adverse events were neutropenia, and nausea and fatigue, respectively. There were two confirmed CNS partial responses (PR) and five patients with stable disease in the CNS ≥ 16 weeks, resulting in a 7% PR and 23% CBR. Median TTP was 2.3 months (range 13–444 days), and median OS from treatment initiation until death was 4.9 months (range 20–1023 days). Excluding patients with LMD, median TTP and OS were 3.1 and 5.6 months, respectively. Only one patient progressed systemically before CNS progression. Conclusions The combination of irinotecan and temozolomide was well tolerated, demonstrated some clinical activity across multiple breast cancer subtypes with progressing CNS disease, and offers a reasonable option for patients who are not candidates for further radiation or clinical trials.