New treatment for certain metastatic breast cancers approved
New treatment for certain metastatic breast cancers approved
29 Sep 2017The US FDA approved a new treatment for hormone-receptor positive, HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer that has progressed after endocrine therapy.
In particular, data from the MONARCH 3 trial of abemaciclib for treating advanced breast cancer was presented at the European congress ESMO 2017.
Abemaciclib is approved to be given in combination with an endocrine therapy, called fulvestrant, after the cancer had grown on endocrine therapy. It is also approved to be given on its own, if patients were previously treated with endocrine therapy and chemotherapy after the cancer had metastasised.
“Abemaciclib provides a new targeted treatment option for certain patients with breast cancer who are not responding to treatment, and unlike other drugs in the class, it can be given as a stand-alone treatment to patients who were previously treated with endocrine therapy and chemotherapy,” said Richard Pazdur, M.D., director of the FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence and acting director of the Office of Haematology and Oncology Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.
Abemaciclib works by blocking certain molecules (known as cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6), involved in promoting the growth of cancer cells.
Approximately 72% of patients with breast cancer have tumours that are HR-positive and HER2-negative.
The safety and efficacy of abemaciclib in combination with fulvestrant were studied in a randomised trial of 669 patients with HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer that had progressed after treatment with endocrine therapy and who had not received chemotherapy once the cancer had metastasised.
The study measured the length of time tumours did not grow after treatment (progression-free survival).
The median progression-free survival for patients taking abemaciclib with fulvestrant was 16.4 months compared to 9.3 months for patients taking a placebo with fulvestrant.
The safety and efficacy of abemaciclib as a stand-alone treatment were studied in a single-arm trial of 132 patients with HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer that had progressed after treatment with endocrine therapy and chemotherapy after the cancer metastasised.
The study measured the percentage of patients whose tumours completely or partially shrank after treatment (objective response rate).
In the study, 19.7% of patients taking abemaciclib experienced complete or partial shrinkage of their tumours for a median 8.6 months.
Common side effects of abemaciclib include diarrhoea, low levels of certain white blood cells (neutropenia and leukopenia), nausea, abdominal pain, infections, fatigue, low levels of red blood cells (anaemia), decreased appetite, vomiting and headache.
Serious side effects of abemaciclib include diarrhoea, neutropenia, elevated liver blood tests and blood clots (deep venous thrombosis/pulmonary embolism).
Women who are pregnant should not take abemaciclib because it may cause harm to a developing foetus.
Source: eCancer News
Source: eCancer News