Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of combination chemotherapy with paclitaxel and carboplatin for advanced breast cancer （ABC）. Methods From January 2001 to March 2006

45 patients with ABC were treated with combination chemotherapy of paclitaxel and carboplatin. Patients received infusion of paclitaxel 175 mg/m2 on day 1 every 3 weeks or 75 mg/m2 on day 1

8

15 every 4 weeks. Carboplatin was administrated on day 2 with a dose of area under the time-concentration curve （AUC） being 5. Results The median number of cycles was 3 （range

2-6）. The overall response rate was 62.2%. Median time to progression was 7.0 months （95%CI:5.1-8.9）. Median overall survival was 29.0 months （95%CI: 20.1-37.9）. One year survival rate was 73.3%. Response rate for first line and second line treatment were 62.1% and 62.5%

respectively. No significant difference in response existed between visceral metastasis and soft tissue metastasis. The main side effects included nausea/vomiting

neurotoxicity

and hematologic toxicities. Grade Ⅲ to Ⅳ adverse events included nausea/vomiting in 2 cases （4.4%）

leukopenia in 17 cases （37.8%）

and alopecia in 6 cases （13.3%）. Conclusion Combination of paclitaxel and carboplatin is active in treatment of ABC with an acceptable toxicity profile.