A promising treatment for early-stage breast cancer

A tested treatment for early-stage breast cancer has been shown to reduce the risk of recurrence by 25%, according to the results of a large clinical trial published on Friday, representing hope for many patients. These preliminary results were unveiled at the largest annual conference of cancer specialists, hosted by the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago. “This is a very important clinical trial that will change the practice” of doctors, commented Rita Nanda, an oncologist from the University of Chicago, who did not participate in this work.

More than 5,000 people took part in the clinical trial

This treatment, ribociclib, is developed by Novartis against the most common type of breast cancer (called HR+/HR2-). It is already used (in combination with hormone therapy) for patients affected by advanced stage cancer, with metastases. The aim of this new study was to test this drug for early stage (1 to 3) cancers. The management of this disease generally involves surgery and radiation therapy, possibly chemotherapy, and then taking years of hormone therapy. Despite this, “a third of patients with stage 2 breast cancer (…) will have a recurrence”, declared during a press conference Dennis Slamon, oncologist at UCLA University, presenting the results. “And these recurrences can occur up to two to three decades after diagnosis.”

More than 5,000 people took part in the clinical trial, half of whom took ribociclib and hormone therapy, and the other half hormone therapy alone. According to preliminary results, the risk of recurrence was reduced by 25% with treatment. Ribociclib works by targeting proteins (CDK4 and CDK6) that affect the growth of cancer cells.

Two other approved treatments

Two other CDK inhibitor treatments, palbociclib and abemaciclib, are also approved for metastatic breast cancer. Abemaciclib has also recently been approved in the United States for early-stage disease, but only for women at high risk of recurrence whose lymph nodes are also affected. Ribociclib could represent an option for women whose lymph nodes are not affected, underlined Rita Nanda.

“There will probably be a lot of discussion around the level of benefit for patients, the type of side effects, and the patients in whom there is a real benefit to using this type of drug for prevention,” said during the interview. a separate press conference Jean-Yves Pierga, head of the medical oncology department at Institut Curie. More than two million breast cancers are diagnosed each year worldwide, and the disease causes more than 600,000 deaths per year. Most diagnoses are made at an early stage.