Premenopausal women with early hormone-receptor positive (HR+) breast cancer receive 5–10 years of adjuvant endocrine therapy (ET) during which pregnancy is contraindicated and fertility may wane. ...The POSITIVE study investigates the impact of temporary ET interruption to allow pregnancy.
POSITIVE enrolled women with stage I-III HR + early breast cancer, ≤42 years, who had received 18–30 months of adjuvant ET and wished to interrupt ET for pregnancy. Treatment interruption for up to 2 years was permitted to allow pregnancy, delivery and breastfeeding, followed by ET resumption to complete the planned duration.
From 12/2014 to 12/2019, 518 women were enrolled at 116 institutions/20 countries/4 continents. At enrolment, the median age was 37 years and 74.9 % were nulliparous. Fertility preservation was used by 51.5 % of women. 93.2 % of patients had stage I/II disease, 66.0 % were node-negative, 54.7 % had breast conserving surgery, 61.9 % had received neo/adjuvant chemotherapy. Tamoxifen alone was the most prescribed ET (41.8 %), followed by tamoxifen + ovarian function suppression (OFS) (35.4 %). A greater proportion of North American women were <35 years at enrolment (42.7 %), had mastectomy (59.0 %) and received tamoxifen alone (59.8 %). More Asian women were nulliparous (81.0 %), had node-negative disease (76.2%) and received tamoxifen + OFS (56.0 %). More European women had received chemotherapy (69.3 %).
The characteristics of participants in the POSITIVE study provide insights to which patients and doctors considered it acceptable to interrupt ET to pursue pregnancy. Similarities and variations from a regional, sociodemographic, disease and treatment standpoint suggest specific sociocultural attitudes across the world.
•Fertility and pregnancy are priority concerns for young breast cancer survivors.•POSITIVE explores a transient interruption of endocrine therapy to allow conception.•Patients' characteristics highlight features considered suitable to study enrolment.•Overall, patients enrolled had a relatively high median age and low-risk disease.•Variations emerged across continents suggesting specific sociocultural attitudes.
Summary Background New options are needed for patients with heavily pretreated breast cancer. Etirinotecan pegol is a long-acting topoisomerase-I inhibitor that prolongs exposure to, but reduces the ...toxicity of, SN38 (the active metabolite of irinotecan). We assessed whether etirinotecan pegol is superior to currently available treatments for patients with previously treated, locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer. Methods In this open-label, multicentre, randomised phase 3 study (BEACON; BrEAst Cancer Outcomes with NKTR-102), conducted at 135 sites in 11 countries, patients with locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer previously treated with an anthracycline, a taxane, and capecitabine (and two to five previous regimens for advanced disease) were randomly assigned (1:1) centrally via an interactive response system to etirinotecan pegol (145 mg/m2 as a 90-min intravenous infusion every 3 weeks) or single-drug treatment of physician's choice. Patients with stable brain metastases and an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0–1 were eligible. Randomisation was stratified with a permuted block scheme by region, previous eribulin, and receptor status. After randomisation, patients and investigators were aware of treatment assignments. The primary endpoint was overall survival in the intention-to-treat population. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov , number NCT01492101. Findings Between Dec 19, 2011, and Aug 20, 2013, 852 patients were randomly assigned; 429 to etirinotecan pegol and 423 to treatment of physician's choice. There was no significant difference in overall survival between groups (median 12·4 months 95% CI 11·0–13·6 for the etirinotecan pegol group vs 10·3 months 9·0–11·3 for the treatment of physician's choice group; hazard ratio 0·87 95% CI 0·75–1·02; p=0·084). The safety population includes the 831 patients who received at least one dose of assigned treatment (425 assigned to etirinotecan pegol and 406 to treatment of physician's choice). Serious adverse events were recorded for 128 (30%) patients treated with etirinotecan pegol and 129 (32%) treated with treatment of physician's choice. Fewer patients in the etirinotecan pegol group had grade 3 or worse toxicity than those in the treatment of physician's choice group (204 48% vs 256 63%; p<0·0001). The most common grade 3 or worse adverse events were diarrhoea (41 10% in the experimental group vs five 1% in the control group), neutropenia (41 10% vs 125 31%), and peripheral neuropathy (two <1% vs 15 4%). Three patients in the etirinotecan pegol group died of treatment-related adverse events (pneumonia, myelodysplastic syndrome, and acute renal failure) and two in the treatment of physician's choice group (neutropenic sepsis and septic shock). Interpretation This trial did not demonstrate an improvement in overall survival for etirinotecan pegol compared to treatment of physician's choice in patients with heavily pre-treated advanced breast cancer. The toxicity profile noted in the etirinotecan pegol group differed from that in the control group. In view of the frequency of cross-resistance and overlapping toxicities noted with many available drugs and the need for effective drugs in highly refractory disease, etirinotecan pegol may warrant further research in some subgroups of patients. Funding Nektar Therapeutics.
Radiotherapy after breast conserving surgery and mastectomy with node positive disease has been shown to reduce risk of recurrence and mortality in the treatment of breast cancer. Intensity-modulated ...radiation therapy (IMRT) after conservative surgery offers several advantages over conventional RT including improved acute and late toxicity and quality of life (QoL). We undertook this study to prospectively evaluate acute (≤90 days after last dose of radiotherapy) and long-term (>90 days) cutaneous, esophageal, and fibrosis toxicity and QoL in breast cancer patients treated by adjuvant IMRT after breast surgery. We included patients with complex volumes for which 3D RT does not allow a good coverage of target volumes and sparing organs at risk. We report here an interim analysis with a median follow-up of 13.1 months (range, 6.5-25.9 months). Most of the acute toxicity was cutaneous (95.9%) and oesophageal (59.6%), and mostly grade 1 and 2. Medium-term cutaneous toxicity rate was 25.6%, and mostly grade 1. Medium-term esophageal toxicity was rare (1.8%). In this series acute oesophageal toxicity was found to be associated with dosimetric factors. QoL was well preserved throughout the study, and aesthetic outcomes were good. Based on these data, tomotherapy may be a favorable alternative to other techniques in patients needing a complex irradiation of the breast and lymph node volumes.
To evaluate the utility of a hypersensitive assay for measuring low antimüllerian hormone (AMH) levels in young cancer patients during the ovarian recovery phase of their chemotherapy.
Retrospective ...study.
Academic medical center.
Fifty-eight samples drawn at least 3 months after the end of chemotherapy in 30 women having either breast cancer (n=13) or hematologic malignancies (n=17) were selected to constitute two equally size groups: amenorrhea (n=30 samples) or spontaneous cycle (n=28 samples).
None.
Serum AMH levels were measured by a conventional AMH ELISA (EIA AMH/MIS) and a hypersensitive ELISA (PicoAMH, AnshLabs) on the same sample.
Using a conventional assay, serum AMH was detectable (≥3 pmol/L) in 6.7% and in 10.7% of the samples corresponding to amenorrheic or cycling patients, respectively (nonsignificant). By contrast, with PicoAMH, serum AMH was detectable (≥0.07 pmol/L) in 71.4% of the samples from cycling women vs. 16.7% of the samples from amenorrheic patients. Multivariate regression analysis showed that among putative contributors, only the menstrual status (r=0.307) and serum FSH level (r=-0.546) were independently correlated to a detectable serum AMH with the picoAMH assay exclusively.
The picoAMH assay, allowing measurement of very low AMH concentrations in human serum, should refine postchemotherapy ovarian follow-up in young women.
Purpose
A major question when treating HR+/HER2− metastatic breast cancer (MBC) is whether early introduction of chemotherapy (CT) increases endocrine resistance. We aimed to describe ...progression-free survival (PFS) under first endocrine therapy (ET) depending on whether given before or after CT in a large nationwide cohort, in the pre-CDK era.
Methods
The real-life retrospective ESME database includes all patients with MBC whose first-line treatment was initiated between 2008 and 2014 in one of the 18 French Comprehensive Cancer Centres. Our primary objective was to compare PFS from start of first ET in patients with HR+/HER2− MBC who received ET or CT first.
Results
We identified 6293 patients who received at least one ET line during their first two therapeutic lines for MBC. As first-line therapy, 3832 (60.9%) received ET alone (ET1 1st group), whilst 2461 (39.1%) received CT, including 2024 patients (32.2%) with maintenance ET after CT (ET1 after CT group). Median PFS under first ET was 12.4 months (95% CI 11.9–13.1) in ET 1st group vs. 12.6 months in ET1 after CT group (95% CI 12.1–13.4), HR 0.96 (95% CI 0.90–1.01,
P
= 0.1277).
Conclusions
PFS under first ET appears identical whether prescribed before or after chemotherapy. These data suggest chemotherapy does not promote endocrine resistance.
Young age is a poor prognostic factor in early stage breast cancer (BC) but its value is less established in metastatic BC (MBC). We evaluated the impact of age at MBC diagnosis on overall survival ...(OS) across three age groups (<40, 40 to 60 and > 60 years(y)).
ESME MBC database is a national cohort, collecting retrospective data from 18 participating French cancer centers between January 01, 2008 and December 31, 2014.
Among 14 403 women included, 1077 (7.5%), 6436 (44.7%) and 6890 (47.8%) pts were <40, 40–60 and > 60 y respectively. Pts <40 had significantly more aggressive presentations than other age groups: more frequent HER2+ (25.7 vs 15.3% in >60y) and triple negative subtypes (27.4 vs 14.6% in >60y), and more frequent visceral involvement (36.3 vs 29.8% in >60y). At a median follow-up of 48 months, median OS differed across age groups: 38.8, 38.4 and 35.6 months for pts <40, 40–60 and > 60y, respectively (p < 0.0001). Compared to pts <40y, older pts had a statistically significant higher risk of death (all causes of death included), although of limited clinical value (HR = 1.1, IC 95%:1.01–1.20). There was a significant trend for better OS in pts <40y with HER2+ and luminal diseases. A possible explanation is a greater use of anti-Her2 therapies as first-line treatments: 86.6, 81.9 and 74.9% for pts <40, 40–60 and > 60y, respectively (p < 0.0001).
Although young age seems associated with more aggressive presentations at diagnosis of MBC, it has no deleterious effect on OS in this large series.
•Young age is a poor prognosis factor in early stage breast cancer.•Young age is associated with an aggressive presentation in metastatic breast cancer.•Young age had no impact on overall survivall in metastatic breast cancer.•Oppositely, older women (>60y) had a stightly poorer prognosis at the metastatic stage.
High Body mass index (BMI) is a risk factor for breast cancer among postmenopausal women and an adverse prognostic factor in early-stage. Little is known about its impact on clinical outcomes in ...patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC).
The National ESME-MBC observational cohort includes all consecutive patients newly diagnosed with MBC between Jan 2008 and Dec 2016 in the 18 French comprehensive cancer centers.
Of 22 463 patients in ESME-MBC, 12 999 women had BMI data available at MBC diagnosis. Median BMI was 24.9 kg/m2 (range 12.1–66.5); 20% of women were obese and 5% underweight. Obesity was associated with more de novo MBC, while underweight patients had more aggressive cancer features. Median overall survival (OS) of the BMI cohort was 47.4 months (95% CI 46.2–48.5) (median follow-up: 48.6 months). Underweight was independently associated with a worse OS (median OS 33 months; HR 1.14, 95%CI, 1.02–1.27) and first line progression-free survival (HR, 1.11; 95%CI, 1.01; 1.22), while overweight or obesity had no effect.
Overweight and obesity are not associated with poorer outcomes in women with metastatic disease, while underweight appears as an independent adverse prognostic factor.
•This is the first large multicenter cohort reporting BMI’s effect on outcomes among patients with metastatic breast cancer.•Overweight or obese status does not negatively influence outcome of metastatic breast cancer patients, whatever the subtype.•Underweight is a strong negative independent prognostic factor on outcomes, whatever the subtype.
Everolimus is the first oral targeted therapy widely used in advanced HR+/HER2- breast cancer. We sought to evaluate the impact of everolimus-based therapy on overall survival in the ESME-MBC ...database, a national metastatic breast cancer cohort that collects retrospective data using clinical trial-like methodology including quality assessments. We compared 1693 patients having received everolimus to 5928 patients not exposed to everolimus in the same period. Overall survival was evaluated according to treatment line, and a propensity score with the inverse probability of treatment weighting method was built to adjust for differences between groups. Crude and landmark overall survival analyses were all compatible with a benefit from everolimus-based therapy. Adjusted hazard ratios for overall survival were 0.34 (95% CI: 0.16-0.72,
= 0.0054), 0.34 (95% CI: 0.22-0.52,
< 0.0001), and 0.23 (95% CI: 0.14-0.36,
< 0.0001) for patients treated with everolimus in line 1, 2, and 3 and beyond, respectively. No clinically relevant benefit on progression-free survival was observed. Causes for everolimus discontinuation were progressive disease (56.2%), adverse events (27.7%), and other miscellaneous reasons. Despite the limitations inherent to such retrospective studies, these results suggest that adding everolimus-based therapy to the therapeutic sequences in patients with advanced HR+/HER2- breast cancer may favorably affect overall survival.
To compare the prevalence of contraception in breast cancer (BC) patients at risk of unintentional pregnancy (i.e. not currently pregnant or trying to get pregnant) and matched controls.
The FEERIC ...study (Fertility, Pregnancy, Contraception after BC in France) is a prospective, multicenter case-control study, including localized BC patients aged 18–43 years, matched for age and parity to cancer-free volunteer controls in a 1:2 ratio. Data were collected through online questionnaires completed on the Seintinelles research platform.
In a population of 1278 women at risk of unintentional pregnancy, the prevalence of contraception at study inclusion did not differ significantly between cases (340/431, 78.9%) and controls (666/847, 78.6%, p = 0.97). Contrarily, the contraceptive methods used were significantly different, with a higher proportion of copper IUD use in BC survivors (59.5% versus 25.0% in controls p < 0.001). For patients at risk of unintentional pregnancy, receiving information about chemotherapy-induced ovary damage at BC diagnosis (OR = 2.47 95%CI 1.39–4.37 and anti-HER2 treatment (OR = 2.46, 95% CI 1.14–6.16) were significantly associated with the use of a contraception in multivariate analysis.
In this large French study, BC survivors had a prevalence of contraception use similar to that for matched controls, though almost one in five women at risk of unintentional pregnancy did not use contraception. Dedicated consultations at cancer care centers could further improve access to information and contraception counseling.
Aim
Cetuximab is an anti‐epidermal growth factor receptor antibody used for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer and head and neck cancer. Hypersensitivity reactions (HSRs) are associated ...with cetuximab use. The aim of the study was to evaluate the utility of anti‐cetuximab immunoglobulin E (IgE) detection in order to identify patients at risk of HSR to cetuximab.
Methods
We included patients ready to receive a first cetuximab infusion in a prospective cohort carried out at nine French centres. Pretreatment anti‐cetuximab IgE levels were measured. We compared the proportion of severe HSRs in the low anti‐cetuximab IgE levels (≤29 IgE arbitrary units) subgroup with that in a historical cohort of 213 patients extracted from a previous study.
Results
Of the 301 assessable patients (mean age: 60.9 ± 9.3 years, head‐and‐neck cancer: 77%), 66 patients (22%) had high anti‐cetuximab IgE levels, and 247 patients received cetuximab (including 38 with high anti‐cetuximab levels). Severe HSRs occurred in eight patients (five grade 3 and three grade 4). The proportion of severe HSRs was lower in the low anti‐cetuximab IgE levels subgroup vs. the historical cohort (3/209 1.4% vs. 11/213 5.2%, odds ratio, 0.27, 95% confidence interval, 0.07–0.97), and higher in high vs. low anti‐cetuximab IgE levels subgroup (5/38 13.2% vs. 3/209 1.4%; odds ratio, 10.4, 95% confidence interval, 2.4–45.6). Patients with severe HSRs had higher anti‐cetuximab IgE levels than patients without reaction (median, 45 vs. 2 IgE arbitrary units, P = 0.006).
Conclusions
Detection of pretreatment anti‐cetuximab IgE is feasible and helpful to identify patients at risk of severe cetuximab‐induced HSRs.
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