Breast Cancer

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) plus chemotherapy improved progression-free survival (PFS) compared with chemotherapy alone as first-line treatment of metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), according to the results of KEYNOTE-355. Improvement in PFS with the addition of pembrolizumab to chemotherapy was more robust in patients with TNBC and PD-L1 expression. These results were presented at the virtual 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) and add to a growing body of evidence supporting the first-line use of pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy combinations for TNBC. Read More ›

The addition of the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK)4/6 inhibitor abemaciclib (Verzenio) to standard endocrine therapy reduced the risk for invasive disease recurrence or death compared with endocrine therapy alone by almost 30% in patients with high-risk, hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth receptor 2 (HER2)-negative, early-stage breast cancer. These results come from the primary analysis of the phase 3 monarchE clinical trial that was presented at the virtual 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. Read More ›

Results of the SWOG S1007 RxPONDER clinical trial suggest that some postmenopausal women with early-stage hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth receptor 2 (HER2)-negative breast cancer, and 1 to 3 positive axillary lymph nodes may be able to avoid adjuvant chemotherapy. By contrast, premenopausal women can derive benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy, based on findings of a prespecified interim analysis of the phase 3 RxPONDER clinical trial; the findings were presented at the virtual 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. Read More ›

Analysis from the PALOMA-3 clinical trial showed that the combination of palbociclib and fulvestrant improved overall survival in patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer. Read More ›

Thrombotic event incidence was higher in this real-world study than that which was reported in clinical trials, with arterial thrombosis accounting for more than one-third of events. Read More ›

Results of this real-world study demonstrated that the impact of abemaciclib complements the pivotal clinical trial data. Read More ›

Primary analysis of a multicenter, randomized clinical trial suggests that endocrine therapy demonstrates benefits over capecitabine when used as a maintenance therapy after first-line combination chemotherapy in hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced metastatic breast cancer. Read More ›

This real-world study of patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer treated with a palbociclib-based therapy as either first- or second-line therapy, showed similar safety and efficacy when compared with clinical study results. Read More ›

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a decline in the number of patients beginning first-line treatment. There was a decrease in the percentage of patients receiving CDK4/6 inhibitor combination therapy while a simultaneous increase in endocrine monotherapy was observed. Read More ›

In a large, diverse cohort of patients, this analysis confirms the safety and efficacy of ribociclib plus letrozole with data that are consistent with those observed in the MONALEESA trials, supporting the use of this combination in the first-line setting. Read More ›