Breast Cancer (ABC) comprises both locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) and metastatic breast cancer (MBC) [1]. Although treatable, MBC remains virtually an incurable disease with a median overall survival (OS) of $3 years and a 5-year survival of only $25% [2, 3]. The MBC Decade Report [2] shows that progress has been slow in terms of improved outcomes, quality of life (QoL), awareness and information regarding ABC. More recently, some studies seem to indicate an improvement in OS, mostly due to advances in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive ABC [4][5][6]. The better survival is seen in an environment with access to the best available care and particularly in de novo ABC, while recurrent ABC seems to become harder to manage [7,8].The last decade has seen an improvement in the levels of evidence (LoEs) used for many of the ABC recommendations, however, still far from the LoEs existing for the majority of early

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Ixabepilone approval in a number of countries across the world as monotherapy and in combination with capecitabine has led to widespread uptake in the later-line breast cancer setting. However, individualized data for ixabepilone in different ethnic groups are limited. Overall, data from small numbers of ethnic subgroups including Hispanic, Japanese and Chinese patients have revealed no clinically significant variation in the disposition, efficacy or tolerability of ixabepilone from that established in pivotal trials. Global use of ixabepilone, while usually along the lines of standard practice, may vary because of local regulatory decisions, clinical practice guidelines and cost considerations. Further information on the global patterns of use of ixabepilone will assist in optimizing the use of this novel therapy.

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