The taxane docetaxel ['Taxotere'] is becoming a workhorse in the treatment of breast cancer. The drug was incorporated in numerous chemotherapeutic regimens described at the 23rd San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium [San Antonio, US; December 2000], for the treatment of early, locally-advanced and metastatic breast cancer. Two of the trials evaluated docetaxel with doxorubicin for neoadjuvant chemotherapy, which successfully downstaged locally-advanced tumours to allow breast-conserving surgery in women who would otherwise have required modified radical mastectomy. A third trial of docetaxel and the new oral fluoropyrimidine capecitabine ['Xeloda'] saw a significant boost in efficacy in women with metastatic disease.