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VIDEO: Extended adjuvant endocrine therapy may be effective in select patients
SAN ANTONIO — Some patients with breast cancer may achieve longer breast cancer–free interval with extended endocrine therapy, according to Susan Boolbol, MD, chief of breast surgery at Mount Sinai Beth Israel and associate professor of surgery at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Sarah Cate, MD, surgeon at Mount Sinai Beth Israel and assistant professor of surgery at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
“It really is [about] selective patients, and it’s looking to see how we can individualize care, and I think that’s the take-home message for all of these trials presented,” Boolbol said.
Boolbol and Cate discuss the take-home message of the NRG Oncology/NSABP B-42 trial data presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. The trial — conducted by Terry Mamounas, MD, MPH, and colleagues — showed that extended adjuvant endocrine therapy with letrozole conferred no significant survival benefit to postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive breast cancer who completed 5 years of hormonal therapy.
In addition, researchers also reported increased risk for arterial thrombotic events with letrozole after 2.5 years.
However, Boolbol and Cate noted this treatment option may be effective in select patients, although it is not a “one-size-fits-all” option, Boolbol said.
“We need to look for specific molecular markers, perhaps a molecular assay, that will help us predict which patients would benefit from these types of extended treatments,” Cate added. – by Kristie L. Kahl
Reference:
Mamounas P, et al. Abstract S1-05. Presented at: San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; Dec. 7-9, 2016; San Antonio.
Disclosure: Boolbol and Cate report no relevant financial disclosures.