Dr. Litton on a Study of Neoadjuvant Talazoparib for Patients With BRCA-Mutated TNBC

Jennifer Litton, MD, associate professor in the Department of Breast Medical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses a neoadjuvant study of talazoparib (Talzenna) for patients with BRCA1/2 mutated triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) during the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

The phase II single-arm study tested the PARP inhibitor talazoparib as neoadjuvant therapy for patients with early-stage TNBC who harbor germline BRCA1/2 mutations. The trial enrolled 20 patients, and therapy was given for 6 months. Data presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting indicated a pathologic complete response (pCR) rate of 53%. The RCB0 and RCB1 rate was 63%. Based on those preliminary findings, the trial is now being tested at multiple centers in the United States to confirm its efficacy in a larger patient population, says Litton.

This is the first study in which a single-agent has demonstrated a pCR response in patients with BRCA mutations, including those with TNBC.