May 15, 2024 - ESMO Breast Cancer 2024 - "At ESMO Breast Cancer 2024 (Berlin, 15–17 May), long-awaited results from the IMpassion132 trial revealed that adding atezolizumab to chemotherapy did not prolong survival versus placebo in PD-L1-positive patients with advanced triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) relapsing within 12 months after anthracycline-/taxane-containing neoadjuvant chemotherapy or primary surgery (Abstract 180O)."
"“The lack of atezolizumab benefit on survival indicates a continued poor prognosis for patients with early relapsing advanced TNBC,” says Dr Carmen Criscitiello from the European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy. “However, the higher ORR achieved with atezolizumab suggests that at least some patients could benefit from it, and this highlights the importance of individualised treatment approaches.” Criscitiello thinks that the identification of biomarkers that predict treatment response is needed for designing more effective clinical trials and personalised treatment plans.
“Developing reliable, accessible and cost-effective diagnostic tests for potential biomarker assessment is difficult – we have not yet achieved this and translating theory into clinical practice is considerably more complex,” she cautions. Likewise, the study presenters suggest that a biology-based definition of intrinsic resistance to checkpoint inhibitors is crucial and Criscitiello agrees, but notes that this will be challenging given the varied genetic, molecular and immunological profiles of such a heterogeneous disease.
“Pending the development of targeted therapies based on the molecular characteristics of TNBC, new hope for patients may also be offered by combination regimens including antibody–drug conjugates and next-generation immune checkpoint inhibitors, with more clinical trials urgently required,” concludes Criscitiello."
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https://dailyreporter.esmo.org/esmo-breast-cancer-2024/esmo-breast-cancer-2024/atezolizumab-does-not-improve-prognosis-in-early-relapsing-advanced-triple-negative-breast-cancer