Breast Cancer

A population of predominantly Chinese women with advanced hormone receptor–positive/HER2-negative breast cancer obtained significant benefits from treatment with the CDK4/6 inhibitor abemaciclib and endocrine therapy.

Dennis J. Slamon, MD, PhD, director, Clinical/Translational Research, Revlon/University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Women's Cancer Research Program, Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, UCLA, discusses the overall survival results of the phase III MONALEESA-3 trial in hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer.

An exploratory biomarker substudy of Impassion130 demonstrated clinical activity of atezolizumab (Tecentriq) and nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane) in a subgroup of patients with triple-negative breast cancer who had immune cell PD-L1 expression by the SP142 immunohistochemistry assay, regardless of the site of the tumor sample.

The addition of the CDK4/6 inhibitor abemaciclib (Verzenio) to fulvestrant (Faslodex) led to a median 9.4-month overall survival benefit compared with fulvestrant with placebo in patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer who progressed on prior endocrine therapy.

The combination of ribociclib and fulvestrant led to an approximate 28% reduction in the risk of death compared with placebo and fulvestrant in postmenopausal patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer.

Neoadjuvant treatment with the combination of pembrolizumab and chemotherapy extended pathological complete response rates by 13.6 percentage points compared with chemotherapy alone for patients with early triple-negative breast cancer.

The investigational CDK4/6 inhibitor trilaciclib unexpectedly improved survival in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer despite failing to meet a safety-related primary endpoint.

A numerical improvement in overall survival was realized with the addition of atezolizumab (Tecentriq) to ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1; Kadcyla) compared with T-DM1 alone.

Sarah Sammons, MD, discussed the MONALEESA-7 and MONARCH 2 studies and how CDK4/6 inhibitors are changing the advanced hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer space.

Women with breast cancer who have lower incomes and are members of minority populations are less likely to return to work following surgery and chemotherapy, and oncologists need to help them obtain workplace accommodations to ease their return to employment.

Susan Faye Dent, MD, discussed the importance of cardiac health in patients with breast cancer.

Carey K. Anders, MD, discussed current approaches in the management of patients with breast cancer that has metastasized to the brain.

Jeremy M. Force, DO, discussed current and emerging immunotherapy options and ongoing challenges in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer.