Nab-paclitaxel in conventional trans arterial chemoembolization for breast cancer liver metastasis: it is time to add new drugs to TACE

Abstract Purpose To assess the effects of nanoparticle albumin-bound (nab) paclitaxel during transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) on local tumor control and survival in breast cancer liver metastases (BCLM) patients. Methods A single-center retrospective study was conducted on BCLM patients included 29 patients who received conventional TACE (c-TACE group) and 30 patients who received TACE plus nab-paclitaxel (nab-paclitaxel group) for the treatment of BCLM. Results At the data cutoff, the overall survival (OS) rate was 45.3%, with no significant differences in 6-, 12-, 18-, and 24-month survival between the treatment groups ( P = 0.330). Overall, the disease control rate was 93.3% in the nab-paclitaxel group, compared with 62.1% in the c-TACE ( P = 0.01), and the objective response rate was 60% and 44.8% respectively ( P = 0.365). The complete response was 13.3% in the nab-paclitaxel group, compared with 3.5% in the c-TACE group ( P = 0.371), while the progressive disease was 6.7% and 37.9% respectively ( P = 0.01). Conclusion Incorporating nab-paclitaxel into the TACE regimen has the potential to enhance tumor response by improving disease control rates and reducing tumor progression in patients with BCLM. Graphical Abstract