Triple negative breast cancer, the least frequent and the most aggressive because it lacked biomarkers against which to direct new treatments, is in the crosshairs of immunotherapy since a group of patients respond to this strategy that stimulates the immune system against the tumor.
At the meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), which is held in Chicago until tomorrow, the results of the phase III study IMPassion130 have been confirmed.
This trial assesses overall survival for the initial treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic triple negative breast cancer without the possibility of surgery.
Patients who respond to the Roche monoclonal antibody atezolizumab are those who do express a biomarker or target, the PD-L1 protein, which stops the immune system from fighting tumor cells and against which the immunotherapeutic drug targets.
900 women participated and 40% had PD-L1 positive, while in other more common types of breast cancer that target has not been detected so far.
For the group of patients with PD-L1, overall survival is improved in seven months, a great advance in “a desperate scenario” with a life expectancy of 18 months in young women with metastases, according to Dr. Antonio Llombart, head of the Service of Oncology at the Arnau de Vilanova Health Department in Lleida.
The trial combines immunotherapy with chemotherapy which, as has occurred in other tumors treated with this type of drug, has a potentiating effect against the progression of the disease.
“Another advantage of using immunotherapy in these patients is its safety profile. There are hardly any differences in toxicity between those treated with atezolizumab and those who did not. Therefore, it does not add toxicity to chemotherapy ”, the oncologist told a group of journalists.
The results of Roche’s phase III study Cleopatra were also presented at this global oncology meeting, confirming the long survival, some eight years, of women with metastatic breast cancer of the HER2 subtype, 20% of all patients. breast tumors, previously untreated.
The trial reflects a median overall survival benefit of 57 months when treated with two targeted therapy drugs, pertuzumab and trastuzumab, along with chemotherapy, which reduced the risk of death by 31%. EFE
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