Game-changing breast cancer trial results presented at international symposium
16 December 2024
Exciting results from a large international study involving Peter Mac have the potential to change the way specific types of breast cancer are treated.
Results from the PATINA trial showed that adding the drug palbociclib to the standard treatment for certain types of advanced breast cancer slowed disease progression by 15 months.
This trial focussed on patients with hormone receptor-positive (HR+), HER2-positive breast cancer, often referred to as double-positive or triple-positive breast cancer, and all patients involved in the trial had seen their cancer spread to other parts of the body.
Peter Mac Associate Professor Shom Goel, who is a co-senior author of the study alongside researchers from Dana Farber and University of North Carolina, said the trial results are likely to change practice in the future.
“The results showed that patients who received palbociclib, a CDK4/6 inhibitor, along with other treatments lived longer without their disease progressing when compared to those who only received the standard treatment,” he said.
“Patients receiving palbociclib saw their progression free survival extended by a median of more than 15 months.
“This study is the first to show this effectiveness of this drug in treating HR+ and HER2+ metastatic breast cancer and could provide a new option for patients who have limited treatments available after their cancer becomes resistant to other therapies.”
The trial was designed based on the results of laboratory studies performed by Associate Professor Goel as a postdoctoral fellow at Dana-Farber.
“This success highlights how the ‘bench-to-bedside’ research model has real life benefits for patients,” he said.
“Sarah-Jane Dawson’s Lab at Peter Mac also continues to analyse the results to improve our understanding of how tumour mutations influence a patients’ response to therapy.”
Approximately 10 per cent of all breast cancers are double-positive or triple-positive. Despite advances in treatment, the development of resistance to anti-HER2 and endocrine therapy is a challenge, and novel therapeutic approaches are needed.
The results from the Phase 3 trial were presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium over the weekend.
Palbociclib has previously been used to treat HR-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer, and has been prescribed to over 773,000 patients since its initial approval in 2015.