Summary Background Olaparib, a novel, orally active poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, induced synthetic lethality in BRCA -deficient cells. A maximum tolerated dose and initial signal of ...efficacy in BRCA -deficient ovarian cancers have been reported. We therefore assessed the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of olaparib alone in women with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations and advanced breast cancer. Methods Women (aged ≥18 years) with confirmed BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations and recurrent, advanced breast cancer were assigned to two sequential cohorts in a phase 2 study undertaken in 16 centres in Australia, Germany, Spain, Sweden, the UK, and the USA. The first cohort (n=27) was given continuous oral olaparib at the maximum tolerated dose (400 mg twice daily), and the second (n=27) was given a lower dose (100 mg twice daily). The primary efficacy endpoint was objective response rate (ORR). This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov , number NCT00494234. Findings Patients had been given a median of three previous chemotherapy regimens (range 1–5 in cohort 1, and 2–4 in cohort 2). ORR was 11 (41%) of 27 patients (95% CI 25–59) in the cohort assigned to 400 mg twice daily, and six (22%) of 27 (11–41) in the cohort assigned to 100 mg twice daily. Toxicities were mainly at low grades. The most frequent causally related adverse events in the cohort given 400 mg twice daily were fatigue (grade 1 or 2, 11 41%; grade 3 or 4, four 15%), nausea (grade 1 or 2, 11 41%; grade 3 or 4, four 15%), vomiting (grade 1 or 2, three 11%; grade 3 or 4, three 11%), and anaemia (grade 1 or 2, one 4%; grade 3 or 4, three 11%). The most frequent causally related adverse events in the cohort given 100 mg twice daily were nausea (grade 1 or 2, 11 41%; none grade 3 or 4) and fatigue (grade 1 or 2, seven 26%; grade 3 or 4, one 4%). Interpretation The results of this study provide positive proof of concept for PARP inhibition in BRCA -deficient breast cancers and shows a favourable therapeutic index for a novel targeted treatment strategy in patients with tumours that have genetic loss of function of BRCA1 -associated or BRCA2 -associated DNA repair. Toxicity in women with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations was similar to that reported previously in those without such mutations. Funding AstraZeneca.
Summary Background Postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive early breast cancer have persistent, long-term risk of breast-cancer recurrence and death. Therefore, trials assessing endocrine ...therapies for this patient population need extended follow-up. We present an update of efficacy outcomes in the Breast International Group (BIG) 1-98 study at 8·1 years median follow-up. Methods BIG 1-98 is a randomised, phase 3, double-blind trial of postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive early breast cancer that compares 5 years of tamoxifen or letrozole monotherapy, or sequential treatment with 2 years of one of these drugs followed by 3 years of the other. Randomisation was done with permuted blocks, and stratified according to the two-arm or four-arm randomisation option, participating institution, and chemotherapy use. Patients, investigators, data managers, and medical reviewers were masked. The primary efficacy endpoint was disease-free survival (events were invasive breast cancer relapse, second primaries contralateral breast and non-breast, or death without previous cancer event). Secondary endpoints were overall survival, distant recurrence-free interval (DRFI), and breast cancer-free interval (BCFI). The monotherapy comparison included patients randomly assigned to tamoxifen or letrozole for 5 years. In 2005, after a significant disease-free survival benefit was reported for letrozole as compared with tamoxifen, a protocol amendment facilitated the crossover to letrozole of patients who were still receiving tamoxifen alone; Cox models and Kaplan-Meier estimates with inverse probability of censoring weighting (IPCW) are used to account for selective crossover to letrozole of patients (n=619) in the tamoxifen arm. Comparison of sequential treatments to letrozole monotherapy included patients enrolled and randomly assigned to letrozole for 5 years, letrozole for 2 years followed by tamoxifen for 3 years, or tamoxifen for 2 years followed by letrozole for 3 years. Treatment has ended for all patients and detailed safety results for adverse events that occurred during the 5 years of treatment have been reported elsewhere. Follow-up is continuing for those enrolled in the four-arm option. BIG 1-98 is registered at clinicaltrials.gov NCT00004205. Findings 8010 patients were included in the trial, with a median follow-up of 8·1 years (range 0–12·4). 2459 were randomly assigned to monotherapy with tamoxifen for 5 years and 2463 to monotherapy with letrozole for 5 years. In the four-arm option of the trial, 1546 were randomly assigned to letrozole for 5 years, 1548 to tamoxifen for 5 years, 1540 to letrozole for 2 years followed by tamoxifen for 3 years, and 1548 to tamoxifen for 2 years followed by letrozole for 3 years. At a median follow-up of 8·7 years from randomisation (range 0–12·4), letrozole monotherapy was significantly better than tamoxifen, whether by IPCW or intention-to-treat analysis (IPCW disease-free survival HR 0·82 95% CI 0·74–0·92, overall survival HR 0·79 0·69–0·90, DRFI HR 0·79 0·68–0·92, BCFI HR 0·80 0·70–0·92; intention-to-treat disease-free survival HR 0·86 0·78–0·96, overall survival HR 0·87 0·77–0·999, DRFI HR 0·86 0·74–0·998, BCFI HR 0·86 0·76–0·98). At a median follow-up of 8·0 years from randomisation (range 0–11·2) for the comparison of the sequential groups with letrozole monotherapy, there were no statistically significant differences in any of the four endpoints for either sequence. 8-year intention-to-treat estimates (each with SE ≤1·1%) for letrozole monotherapy, letrozole followed by tamoxifen, and tamoxifen followed by letrozole were 78·6%, 77·8%, 77·3% for disease-free survival; 87·5%, 87·7%, 85·9% for overall survival; 89·9%, 88·7%, 88·1% for DRFI; and 86·1%, 85·3%, 84·3% for BCFI. Interpretation For postmenopausal women with endocrine-responsive early breast cancer, a reduction in breast cancer recurrence and mortality is obtained by letrozole monotherapy when compared with tamoxifen montherapy. Sequential treatments involving tamoxifen and letrozole do not improve outcome compared with letrozole monotherapy, but might be useful strategies when considering an individual patient's risk of recurrence and treatment tolerability. Funding Novartis, United States National Cancer Institute, International Breast Cancer Study Group.
Summary Background The optimum endocrine treatment for postmenopausal women with advanced hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer that has progressed on non-steroidal aromatase inhibitors (NSAIs) is ...unclear. The aim of the SoFEA trial was to assess a maximum double endocrine targeting approach with the steroidal anti-oestrogen fulvestrant in combination with continued oestrogen deprivation. Methods In a composite, multicentre, phase 3 randomised controlled trial done in the UK and South Korea, postmenopausal women with hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer (oestrogen receptor ER positive, progesterone receptor PR positive, or both) were eligible if they had relapsed or progressed with locally advanced or metastatic disease on an NSAI (given as adjuvant for at least 12 months or as first-line treatment for at least 6 months). Additionally, patients had to have adequate organ function and a WHO performance status of 0–2. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to receive fulvestrant (500 mg intramuscular injection on day 1, followed by 250 mg doses on days 15 and 29, and then every 28 days) plus daily oral anastrozole (1 mg); fulvestrant plus anastrozole-matched placebo; or daily oral exemestane (25 mg). Randomisation was done with computer-generated permuted blocks, and stratification was by centre and previous use of an NSAI as adjuvant treatment or for locally advanced or metastatic disease. Participants and investigators were aware of assignment to fulvestrant or exemestane, but not of assignment to anastrozole or placebo. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS). Analyses were by intention to treat. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov , numbers NCT00253422 (UK) and NCT00944918 (South Korea). Findings Between March 26, 2004, and Aug 6, 2010, 723 patients underwent randomisation: 243 were assigned to receive fulvestrant plus anastrozole, 231 to fulvestrant plus placebo, and 249 to exemestane. Median PFS was 4·4 months (95% CI 3·4–5·4) in patients assigned to fulvestrant plus anastrozole, 4·8 months (3·6–5·5) in those assigned to fulvestrant plus placebo, and 3·4 months (3·0–4·6) in those assigned to exemestane. No difference was recorded between the patients assigned to fulvestrant plus anastrozole and fulvestrant plus placebo (hazard ratio 1·00, 95% CI 0·83–1·21; log-rank p=0·98), or between those assigned to fulvestrant plus placebo and exemestane (0·95, 0·79–1·14; log-rank p=0·56). 87 serious adverse events were reported: 36 in patients assigned to fulvestrant plus anastrozole, 22 in those assigned to fulvestrant plus placebo, and 29 in those assigned to exemestane. Grade 3–4 adverse events were rare; the most frequent were arthralgia (three in the group assigned to fulvestrant plus anastrozole; seven in that assigned to fulvestrant plus placebo; eight in that assigned to exemestane), lethargy (three; 11; 11), and nausea or vomiting (five; two; eight). Interpretation After loss of response to NSAIs in postmenopausal women with hormone-receptor-positive advanced breast cancer, maximum double endocrine treatment with 250 mg fulvestrant combined with oestrogen deprivation is no better than either fulvestrant alone or exemestane. Funding Cancer Research UK and AstraZeneca.
Summary Background Several randomised trials have confirmed the benefit of adjuvant trastuzumab for patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer. However, concern has been expressed that adjuvant ...trastuzumab might be associated with an increased frequency of CNS relapses. We assessed the frequency and course of CNS relapses, either as first event or at any time, using data from the HERA trial. Methods We estimated the cumulative incidence of first disease-free survival (DFS) events in the CNS versus other sites by competing risks analysis in patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer who had been randomly assigned to receive 1 year of trastuzumab or to observation in the HERA trial after a median follow-up of 4 years (IQR 3·5–4·8). To obtain further information about CNS relapse at any time before death, we circulated a data collection form to investigators to obtain standardised information about CNS events that occurred in all patients who had died before July, 2009. We estimated the cumulative incidence of CNS relapse at any time with a competing risks analysis. Results Of 3401 patients who had been assigned to receive 1 year of trastuzumab or to observation, 69 (2%) had a CNS relapse as first DFS event and 747 (22%) had a first DFS event not in the CNS. The frequency of CNS relapses as first DFS event did not differ between the group given 1 year of trastuzumab (37 2% of 1703 patients) and the observation group (32 2% of 1698; p=0·55 Gray's test). 481 data collection forms were distributed, of which 413 (86%) were returned. The proportion of patients who had died and experienced a CNS relapse was numerically higher in the observation group (129 57% of 227) than in the group given trastuzumab for 1 year (88 47% of 186; p=0·06 Gray's test). Most CNS relapses were symptomatic (189 87% of 217). Conclusion Adjuvant trastuzumab does not increase the risk of CNS relapse in patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer. Funding None.
Summary Background Incorporation of a taxane as adjuvant treatment for early breast cancer offers potential for further improvement of anthracycline-based treatment. The UK TACT study (CRUK01/001) ...investigated whether sequential docetaxel after anthracycline chemotherapy would improve patient outcome compared with standard chemotherapy of similar duration. Methods In this multicentre, open-label, phase III, randomised controlled trial, 4162 women (aged >18 years) with node-positive or high-risk node-negative operable early breast cancer were randomly assigned by computer-generated permuted block randomisation to receive FEC (fluorouracil 600 mg/m2 , epirubicin 60 mg/m2 , cyclophosphamide 600 mg/m2 at 3-weekly intervals) for four cycles followed by docetaxel (100 mg/m2 at 3-weekly intervals) for four cycles (n=2073) or control (n=2089). For the control regimen, centres chose either FEC for eight cycles (n=1265) or epirubicin (100 mg/m2 at 3-weekly intervals) for four cycles followed by CMF (cyclophosphamide 600 mg/m2 , methotrexate 40 mg/m2 , and fluorouracil 600 mg/m2 at 4-weekly intervals) for four cycles (n=824). The primary endpoint was disease-free survival. Analysis was by intention to treat (ITT). This study is registered as an International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial, number ISRCTN79718493. Findings All randomised patients were included in the ITT population. With a median follow-up of 62 months, disease-free survival events were seen in 517 of 2073 patients in the experimental group compared with 539 of 2089 controls (hazard ratio HR 0·95, 95% CI 0·85–1·08; p=0·44). 75·6% (95% CI 73·7–77·5) of patients in the experimental group and 74·3% (72·3–76·2) of controls were alive and disease-free at 5 years. The proportion of patients who reported any acute grade 3 or 4 adverse event was significantly greater in the experimental group than in the control group (p<0·0001); the most frequent events were neutropenia (937 events vs 797 events), leucopenia (507 vs 362), and lethargy (456 vs 272). Interpretation This study did not show any overall gain from the addition of docetaxel to standard anthracycline chemotherapy. Exploration of predictive biomarker-defined subgroups might have the potential to better target the use of taxane-based therapy. Funding Cancer Research UK (CRUK 01/001), Sanofi-Aventis, Pfizer, and Roche.
Summary Background Adjuvant chemotherapy for early breast cancer has improved outcomes but causes toxicity. The UK TACT2 trial used a 2×2 factorial design to test two hypotheses: whether use of ...accelerated epirubicin would improve time to tumour recurrence (TTR); and whether use of oral capecitabine instead of cyclophosphamide would be non-inferior in terms of patients' outcomes and would improve toxicity, quality of life, or both. Methods In this multicentre, phase 3, randomised, controlled trial, we enrolled patients aged 18 years or older from 129 UK centres who had histologically confirmed node-positive or high-risk node-negative operable breast cancer, had undergone complete excision, and were due to receive adjuvant chemotherapy. Patients were randomly assigned to receive four cycles of 100 mg/m2 epirubicin either every 3 weeks (standard epirubicin) or every 2 weeks with 6 mg pegfilgrastim on day 2 of each cycle (accelerated epirubicin), followed by four 4-week cycles of either classic cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil (CMF; 600 mg/m2 cyclophosphamide intravenously on days 1 and 8 or 100 mg/m2 orally on days 1–14; 40 mg/m2 methotrexate intravenously on days 1 and 8; and 600 mg/m2 fluorouracil intravenously on days 1 and 8 of each cycle) or four 3-week cycles of 2500 mg/m2 capecitabine (1250 mg/m2 given twice daily on days 1–14 of each cycle). The randomisation schedule was computer generated in random permuted blocks, stratified by centre, number of nodes involved (none vs one to three vs four or more), age (≤50 years vs >50 years), and planned endocrine treatment (yes vs no). The primary endpoint was TTR, defined as time from randomisation to first invasive relapse or breast cancer death, with intention-to-treat analysis of standard versus accelerated epirubicin and per-protocol analysis of CMF versus capecitabine. This trial is registered with ISRCTN, number 68068041, and with ClinicalTrials.gov , number NCT00301925. Findings From Dec 16, 2005, to Dec 5, 2008, 4391 patients (4371 women and 20 men) were recruited. At a median follow-up of 85·6 months (IQR 80·6–95·9) no significant difference was seen in the proportions of patients free from TTR events between the accelerated and standard epirubicin groups (overall hazard ratio HR 0·94, 95% CI 0·81–1·09; stratified p=0·42). At 5 years, 85·9% (95% CI 84·3–87·3) of patients receiving standard epirubicin and 87·1% (85·6–88·4) of those receiving accelerated epirubicin were free from TTR events. 4358 patients were included in the per-protocol analysis, and no difference was seen in the proportions of patients free from TTR events between the CMF and capecitabine groups (HR 0·98, 95% CI 0·85–1.14; stratified p=0·00092 for non-inferiority). Compared with baseline, significantly more patients taking CMF than those taking capecitabine had clinically relevant worsening of quality of life at end of treatment (255 58% of 441 vs 235 50% of 475; p=0·011) and at 12 months (114 34% of 334 vs 89 22% of 401; p<0·001 at 12 months) and had worse quality of life over time (p<0·0001). Detailed toxicity and quality-of-life data were collected from 2115 (48%) of treated patients. The most common grade 3 or higher adverse events in cycles 1–4 were neutropenia (175 16%) and fatigue (56 5%) of the 1070 patients treated with standard epirubicin, and fatigue (63 6%) and infection (34 3%) of the 1045 patients treated with accelerated epirubicin. In cycles 5–8, the most common grade 3 or higher adverse events were neutropenia (321 31%) and fatigue (109 11%) in the patients treated with CMF, and hand-foot syndrome (129 12%) and diarrhoea (67 6%) in the 1044 patients treated with capcitabine. Interpretation We found no benefit from increasing the dose density of the anthracycline component of chemotherapy. However, capecitabine could be used in place of CMF without significant loss of efficacy and with improved quality of life. Funding Cancer Research UK, Amgen, Pfizer, and Roche.
Summary Background The tAnGo trial was designed to investigate the potential role of gemcitabine when added to anthracycline and taxane-containing adjuvant chemotherapy for early breast cancer. When ...this study was developed, gemcitabine had shown significant activity in metastatic breast cancer, and there was evidence of a favourable interaction with paclitaxel. Methods tAnGo was an international, open-label, randomised, phase 3 superiority trial that enrolled women aged 18 years or older with newly diagnosed, early-stage breast cancer who had a definite indication for chemotherapy, any nodal status, any hormone receptor status, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0–1, and adequate bone marrow, hepatic, and renal function. Women were recruited from 127 clinical centres and hospitals in the UK and Ireland, and randomly assigned (1:1) to one of two treatment regimens: epirubicin, cyclophosphamide, and paclitaxel (four cycles of 90 mg/m2 intravenously administered epirubicin and 600 mg/m2 intravenously administered cyclophosphamide on day 1 every 3 weeks, followed by four cycles of 175 mg/m2 paclitaxel as a 3 h infusion on day 1 every 3 weeks) or epirubicin, cyclophosphamide, and paclitaxel plus gemcitabine (the same chemotherapy regimen as the other group, with the addition of 1250 mg/m2 gemcitabine to the paclitaxel cycles, administered intravenously as a 0·5 h infusion on days 1 and 8 every 3 weeks). Patients were randomly assigned by a central computerised deterministic minimisation procedure, with stratification by country, age, radiotherapy intent, nodal status, and oestrogen receptor and HER-2 status. The primary endpoint was disease-free survival and the trial aimed to detect 5% differences in 5-year disease-free survival between the treatment groups. Recruitment completed in 2004 and this is the final, intention-to-treat analysis. This trial is registered with EudraCT (2004-002927-41), ISRCTN (51146252), and ClinicalTrials.gov ( NCT00039546 ). Findings Between Aug 22, 2001, and Nov 26, 2004, 3152 patients were enrolled and randomly assigned to epirubicin, cyclophosphamide, paclitaxel, and gemcitabine (gemcitabine group; n=1576) or to epirubicin, cyclophosphamide, and paclitaxel (control group; n=1576). 11 patients (six in the gemcitabine group and five in the control group) were ineligible because of pre-existing metastases and were therefore excluded from the analysis. At this protocol-specified final analysis (median follow-up 10 years IQR 10–10), 1087 disease-free survival events and 914 deaths had occurred. Disease-free survival did not differ significantly between the treatment groups at 10 years (65% 63–68 in the gemcitabine group vs 65% 62–67 in the control group), and median disease-free survival was not reached (adjusted hazard ratio 0·97 95% CI 0·86–1·10, p=0·64). Toxicity, dose intensity, and a detailed safety substudy showed both regimens to be safe, deliverable, and tolerable. Grade 3 and 4 toxicities were reported at expected levels in both groups. The most common were neutropenia (527 34% of 1565 patients in the gemcitabine group vs 412 26% of 1567 in the control group), myalgia and arthralgia (207 13% vs 186 12%), fatigue (207 13% vs 152 10%), infection (202 13% vs 141 9%), vomiting (143 9% vs 108 7%), and nausea (132 8% vs 102 7%). Interpretation The addition of gemcitabine to anthracycline and taxane-based adjuvant chemotherapy at this dose and schedule confers no therapeutic advantage in terms of disease-free survival in early breast cancer, although it can cause increased toxicity. Therefore, gemcitabine has not been added to standard adjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer for any subgroup. Funding Cancer Research UK core funding for Clinical Trials Unit at the University of Birmingham, Eli Lilly, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Pfizer.
Summary Background Trastuzumab—a humanised monoclonal antibody against HER2—has been shown to improve disease-free survival after chemotherapy in women with HER2-positive early breast cancer. We ...investigated the drug's effect on overall survival after a median follow-up of 2 years in the Herceptin Adjuvant (HERA) study. Methods HERA is an international multicentre randomised trial that compared 1 or 2 years of trastuzumab treatment with observation alone after standard neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy in women with HER2-positive node positive or high-risk node negative breast cancer. 5102 women participated in the trial; we analysed data from 1703 women who had been randomised for treatment with trastuzumab for 1 year and 1698 women from the control group, with median follow-up of 23·5 months (range 0–48 months). The primary endpoint of the trial was disease-free survival. Here, we assess overall survival, a secondary endpoint. Analyses were done on an intent-to-treat basis. This trial is registered with the European Clinical Trials Database, number 2005–002385–11. Findings 97 (5·7%) patients randomised to observation alone and 58 (3·4%) patients randomised to 1 year of treatment with trastuzumab were lost to follow-up. 172 women stopped trastuzumab prematurely. 59 deaths were reported for trastuzumab and 90 in the control group. The unadjusted hazard ratio (HR) for the risk of death with trastuzumab compared with observation alone was 0·66 (95% CI 0·47–0·91; p=0·0115). 218 disease-free survival events were reported with trastuzumab compared with 321 in the control group. The unadjusted HR for the risk of an event with trastuzumab compared with observation alone was 0·64 (0·54–0·76; p<0·0001). Interpretation Our results show that 1 year of treatment with trastuzumab after adjuvant chemotherapy has a significant overall survival benefit after a median follow-up of 2 years. The emergence of this benefit after only 2 years reinforces the importance of trastuzumab in the treatment of women with HER2-positive early breast cancer.
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