A recent analysis done by Dana-Faber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Centre Investigators shows that in early breast cancer patients, adding immune checkpoint inhibitors, type of immunotherapy drugs, to the standard chemotherapy can improve the treatment response without hampering the quality of life in patients.
These results emanated from the IMpassion031 study, which was a phase III trial to determine the effectiveness and safety of the checkpoint inhibitor, atezolizumab along with standard chemotherapy before surgery. The study included 333 patients with a history of untreated triple-negative breast cancer. The drug Atezoliumab, acts by blocking the PD-L1 proteins on tumour cells, thus opening the tumour cells to an immune system attack.
About 13% of breast cancer cases are triple-negative breast cancer cases. These cancer tests negative for progesterone and oestrogen receptor and HER2 proteins therefore named triple-negative breast cancer. This cancer grows faster as compared to other forms of breast cancer and thus has a poor prognosis.
In the study, the patients were randomly divided into two groups. One group received atezolizumab along with chemotherapy agents nab-paclitaxel, adriamycin, and cyclophosphamide before undergoing breast cancer surgery, and the second group received the same chemotherapy agents with placebo. During the time of the surgery, the response to the treatment was evaluated. It was reported that combination therapy increased the chances of competitive response in patients with early-stage triple-negative breast cancer.
In the next few months, following the treatment, the trial participants were enquired to rate their ability to perform daily tasks. And it was concluded that there was no difference in patients of both the group with performing their daily tasks.
Therefore, the findings of the analysis suggest that the combination of chemotherapy and checkpoint inhibitors improved treatment response without impacting the quality of life. The study results further add to the accumulating evidence supporting the role of immunotherapy in cancer treatment.
Source: San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, Dana Faber Cancer Institute