Comparison of the Therapeutic Efficacy of the Early and the Delayed Use of Vinorelbine-Based Regimens for Patients with Advanced Breast Cancer

Quality indicators for the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer integrated assistance: A critical appraisal

INTRODUCTION

Quality indicators (QIs) are essential for adequate control of the health care management process, recognizing areas of improvement and providing solutions. We aimed to evaluate the Integrated Breast Cancer (BC) Care Process QIs.

METHODS

We studied 487 consecutive BC cases diagnosed from November 1st, 2013, to November 30th, 2019, in a Spanish healthcare area, and we estimated the associated QIs.

RESULTS

Four indicators did not meet the standards and were analysed based on related sociodemographic and clinical variables. The surgical delay after a multidisciplinary team discussion (mean 64%, IQR 59.6-68.5) was lower in elder people (p=0.027), and early histological grades (p=0.019) and stages (p=0.008). The adjuvant treatment delay (mean 55.7%, IQR 51.1-60.3) was lower in advance stages (p=0.002) and when there was no reoperation (p=0.001). The surgical delay after inclusion (mean 83.2%, IQR 79.3-87.2) was lower in early histological grades (p=0.048). The immediate reconstruction (mean 42.3%, IQR 34.0-50.5) reached 72.3% in young women compared to 11.8% in older than 70 years (p=0.001) and it was higher in early stages (45.3% vs 36.2%; p=0.049).

CONCLUSION

The study of QIs evaluated their compliance and analysed the variables influencing them to propose improvement measures. Not all the indicators were equally valuable. Some depended on the available resources, and others on the mix of patients or complementary treatments. It would be essential to identify the specific target populations to estimate the indicators or provide standards stratified by the related variables.

Oral vinorelbine versus intravenous vinorelbine, in combination with epirubicin as first-line chemotherapy in Chinese patients with metastatic breast cancer

Oral VRL offers easier administration, better quality of life, and cost saving. This study aimed to evaluate the treatment efficacy in terms of tumor response of the two formulations of vinorelbine (VRL, oral and IV) in combination with epirubicin (EPI); and the effect of EPI co-administration on VRL pharmacokinetics (PK) in Chinese patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) using a phase 2, open label, randomized trial. Patients were aged 18–70 years, had histologically confirmed MBC, Karnofsky Performance Status ≥ 70%, and life expectancy ≥ 12 weeks. The treatment consisted of 6 cycles of 3 weeks each. VRL dose was: (Oral-VRL) 60 mg/m² for cycle 1, 80 mg/m² for cycles 2–6, and (IV-VRL) 25 mg/m² for cycle 1 and 30 mg/m² for cycles 2–6. EPI dose of 75 mg/m² was given on day 1 in both arms for all cycles. 133 patients were enrolled: 66 in Oral-VRL and 67 in IV-VRL arms. The median age for Oral-VRL and IV-VRL arms was 48.4 and 50.0 years, respectively. Objective response rates were 50.0% (95% CI 37.4–62.6%) for Oral-VRL and 53.7% (95% CI 41.1–66.0%) for IV-VRL. Both treatment arms met the efficacy objective target of at least 31 responses, demonstrating efficacy as first-line treatment for MBC. Similar blood PK profiles, exposures, and VRL clearance were observed between VRL + EPI vs VRL-only modalities for both arms. Oral VRL is comparable to IV VRL and an effective first-line treatment for Chinese patients with MBC. The activity of VRL + EPI combination is unaltered when VRL is given orally at recommended doses.

Eribulin in Heavily Pretreated Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients in the Real World: A Retrospective Study

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to investigate efficacy and safety of eribulin in heavily pretreated patients with advanced breast cancer (BC) in a real-life setting.

METHODS

This retrospective monocentric study included patients with HER-2-negative metastatic BC, pretreated with anthracyclines and taxanes, who were referred to the Oncology Department of Spedali Civili of Brescia from May 2012 to April 2017. Patients received the same dose of eribulin as that used in the EMBRACE trial: 1.4 mg/m2 on days 1 and 8 every 21 days.

RESULTS

In a total of 53 patients, 32% obtained a partial response, 11% a stable disease, and 43% a clinical benefit (CB). After a median follow-up of 36 months, median progression-free survival (PFS) was 4.7 months and median overall survival (OS) 13.53 months. Median PFS was significantly longer in patients who reported a CB compared to those with no CB, while survival outcomes (PFS and OS) were better in patients who received > 6 cycles of eribulin. Eribulin showed a good tolerability profile with acceptable toxicities, similar to those reported in EMBRACE.

CONCLUSIONS

Our experience in a real-world setting confirms the activity, efficacy, and good tolerability profile of eribulin in heavily pretreated BC patients.

Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3Kα)/AKT axis blockade with taselisib or ipatasertib enhances the efficacy of anti-microtubule drugs in human breast cancer cells

Purpose

The Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3Ks) pathway is commonly altereted in breast cancer patients, but its role is still unclear. Taselisib, a mutant PI3Kα selective inhibitor, and ipatasertib, an AKT inhibitor, are currently under investigation in clinical trials in combination with paclitaxel or hormonal therapies in breast cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate if PI3K or AKT inhibition can prevent resistance to chemotherapy and potentiate its efficacy.

Experimental design

The efficacy of combined treatment of ipatasertib and taselisib plus vinorelbine or paclitaxel or eribulin was evaluated in vitro on human breast cancer cells (with different expression profile of hormonal receptors, HER2, and of PI3Ka mutation) on cell survival by using MTT (3,(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2)2,5 difeniltetrazolium bromide) and colony forming assays on cell apoptosis by flow-cytometry analysis. We also investigated the effect of combined treatment on downstream intracellular signaling, by western blot analysis, and on metastatic properties, by migration assays. Finally, we analyzed changes in cell cytoskeleton by immunofluorescence.

Results

A significant synergism of ipatasertib or taselisib plus anti-microtubule chemotherapy in terms of anti-proliferative, pro-apoptotic and anti-metastatic effect was observed. The combined treatment completely inhibited the activation of proteins downstream of PI3K and MAPK pathways and affected the expression of survivin. Combined treatments completely disorganized the cytoskeleton in human breast cancer cells, with contemporary delocalization of survivin from cytoplasm to nucleus, thus suggesting a potential mechanism for this combination.

Conclusions

Targeting PI3K may enhance the efficacy of anti-microtubule drugs in human breast cancer cells.

Eribulin for metastatic breast cancer (MBC) treatment: a retrospective, multicenter study based in Campania, south Italy (Eri-001 trial)

BACKGROUND

On the basis of the results of two pivotal phase III clinical trials, eribulin mesylate is currently approved in EU for the treatment of advanced breast cancer (aBC) in patients who have previously received an anthracycline and a taxane in either the adjuvant or the metastatic setting, and at least one chemotherapeutic regimen for metastatic disease.

METHODS

In our study, we investigated the efficacy and tolerability of eribulin as second or further line chemotherapy in 137 women affected by aBC.

RESULTS

Eribulin as monotherapy provided benefit in terms of progression-free survival (PFS), response rate (RR) and disease control rate (DCR) independently of its use as second or late-line therapy. The overall RR and DCR were 17.5% and 64%, respectively. In particular, DCR and overall RR were 50% and 13.6%, 65.4% and 21.1%, 70.4% and 14.8% and 66.7% and 16.7% in second, third, fourth and further lines of treatment, respectively. Median PFS (mPFS) according to the line of therapy was 5.7, 6.3, 4.5 and 4.0 months in patients treated with eribulin in second, third, fourth and over the fourth line, respectively. No significant difference in terms of mPFS was found between the various BC subtypes. Overall, eribulin resulted safe and most adverse events were of grade 1 or 2 and easily manageable. Grades 3-4 toxicities were neutropaenia and neurotoxicity.

CONCLUSIONS

With the limitations due to the observational nature of our findings, eribulin was shown to be an effective and safe therapeutic option in heavily pretreated patients with aBC.