Ixabepilone as monotherapy or in combination for the treatment of advanced breast cancer.

Advanced breast cancer represents a therapeutic challenge for oncologists. Chemotherapy with anthracyclines and taxanes has improved survival in this setting, but resistant and refractory disease is common. Ixabepilone, an epothilone, is a recently approved chemotherapeutic agent, both as a single agent and in combination with capecitabine, with efficacy in patients with resistant advanced disease. In this review, the distinctive properties of this drug are discussed, as well as the clinical evidence of efficacy. Ongoing clinical trials are exploring the role of ixabepilone in several clinical settings: neoadjuvant, adjuvant, and novel combinations.