SABCS 2024 Data Show ‘Great Steps Forward’ in Breast Cancer Care

Commentary
Podcast

Paolo Tarantino, MD, and Matteo Lambertini, MD, PhD discuss findings related to CDK4/6 inhibitors and antibody drug conjugates presented at SABCS 2024.

Following the 2024 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), Paolo Tarantino, MD, and Matteo Lambertini, MD, PhD, co-hosted a live X Space with CancerNetwork® and spoke about updated trial findings that may impact the breast cancer treatment paradigm.

Tarantino is a clinical research fellow at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. Lambertini is an associate professor and consultant in medical oncology at the University of Genova – IRCCS Policlinico San Martino Hospital in Genova, Italy.

Tarantino and Lambertini highlighted data from various studies that investigators presented at the Symposium, which included results on the use of treatment modalities such as antibody drug conjugates and CDK4/6 inhibitors. Some presentations of interest included the following:

  • Phase 3 DESTINY-Breast06 Trial (NCT04494425)1
    • Patients with hormone receptor (HR)–positive, HER2-low or HER2-ultralow metastatic breast cancer were assigned to receive fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd; Enhertu) or physician’s choice of therapy.
    • Treatment with T-DXd improved progression-free survival (PFS) among patients with a time to progression on frontline endocrine therapy of less than 6 months (HR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.25-0.59), 6 to 12 months (HR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.43-1.12), and more than 12 months (HR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.51-0.88).
    • PFS improved with T-DXd regardless of disease burden.
  • Phase 3 EMBER-3 Trial (NCT04975308)2
    • Investigators evaluated 3 treatment arms—imlunestrant (LY3484356) monotherapy, fulvestrant (Faslodex) or exemestane (Aromasin), and imlunestrant in combination with abemaciclib (Verzenio)—among patients with estrogen receptor (ER)–positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer.
    • Across the overall population, imlunestrant monotherapy improved PFS compared with standard endocrine therapy (HR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.72-1.04; P = .12).
    • Imlunestrant plus abemaciclib also showed a PFS improvement vs endocrine therapy across the overall population (HR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.44-0.73; P <.001).
  • Phase 2 SOLTI-VALENTINE Trial (NCT05569811)3
    • Patients with primary operable HR–positive/HER2-negative breast cancer were assigned to receive patritumab deruxtecan (HER3-DXd) alone, HER3-DXd plus letrozole (Femara), or standard multiagent chemotherapy.
    • HER3-DXd monotherapy yielded a pathologic complete response (pCR) rate of 4.0% (95% CI, 0.5%-13.7%) and an objective response rate (ORR) of 70.0% (95% CI, 55.4%-82.1%); the respective rates in the chemotherapy arm were 4.2% (95% CI, 0.1%-21.1%) and 70.8% (95% CI, 48.9%-87.4%).
    • Combining HER3-DXd with letrozole produced a pCR rate and ORR of 2.1% (95% CI, 0.1%-11.1%) and 81.3% (95% CI, 67.4%-91.1%), respectively.

References

  1. Bardia A, Hu X, Dent R, et al. Efficacy and safety of trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd) vs physician’s choice of chemotherapy (TPC) by pace of disease progression on prior endocrine-based therapy: additional analysis from DESTINY-Breast06. Presented at: 2024 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; December 10-14, 2024; San Antonio, TX. Abstract LB1-04.
  2. Jhaveri KL, Neven P, Casalnuovo ML, et al. Imlunestrant, an oral selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD), as monotherapy and combined with abemaciclib, for patients with ER+, HER2- advanced breast cancer (ABC), pretreated with endocrine therapy (ET): results of the phase 3 EMBER-3 trial. Presented at: 2024 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; December 10-14, 2024; San Antonio, TX. Abstract GS1-01.
  3. Oliveira M, Pascual T, Parraga KA, et al. Neoadjuvant HER3-DXd alone or in combination with letrozole for high-risk HR+/HER2- early EBC: Primary results of the randomized phase II SOLTI VALENTINE trial. Presented at: 2024 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; December 10-14, 2024; San Antonio, TX. Abstract LB1-06.
Recent Videos
A third of patients had a response [to lifileucel], and of the patients who have a response, half of them were alive at the 4-year follow-up.
We are seeing that, in those patients who have relapsed/refractory melanoma with survival measured as a few weeks and no effective treatments, about a third of these patients will have a response.
We have the current CAR [T-cell therapies], which target CD19; however, we need others.
“Every patient [with multiple myeloma] should be offered CAR T before they’re offered a bispecific, with some rare exceptions,” said Barry Paul, MD.
Barry Paul, MD, listed cilta-cel, anito-cel, and arlo-cel as 3 of the CAR T-cell therapies with the most promising efficacy in patients with multiple myeloma.
Jose Sandoval Sus, MD, discussed standard CAR T-cell therapies in patients across multiple high-risk lymphoma indications.
Elucidating nonresponses to bispecific T-cell engagers may be an important research consideration in the multiple myeloma field.
Barriers to access and financial toxicities are challenges that must be addressed for CAR T-cell therapies in LBCL, according to Jose Sandoval Sus, MD.
Fixed treatment durations with bispecific antibodies followed by observation may help in mitigating infection-related AEs, according to Shebli Atrash, MD.
Shebli Atrash, MD, stated that MRD should be considered carefully as an end point, given potential recurrence despite MRD negativity.
Related Content