KANTAR HEALTH BLOG

ASCO Annual Meeting 2017 - Approximately a quarter of breast cancer patients are classified as HER2-positive, according to Kantar Health’s 2016 Treatment Architecture data. Effective targeted agents for the HER2 receptor, such as Herceptin (trastuzumab; Roche) and Perjeta (pertuzumab; Roche), have been developed for this particular patient segment and have greatly improved clinical outcomes for these patients. APHINITY did meet its primary endpoint showing that addition of Perjeta to Herceptin and chemotherapy as adjuvant treatment achieved a statistically significant improvement in IDFS. These data suggest that the triplet may become an option for adjuvant treatment of HER2+ early breast cancer.

ASCO Annual Meeting 2017 - In the Plenary session, late breaking results from the Phase III OLYMPIAD trial, which evaluated Lynparza in comparison to “physician’s choice” chemotherapy (capecitabine, vinorelbine, eribulin) in 302 metastatic HER2- breast cancer patients with deleterious or suspected gBRCA mutations were presented. These results represent the first positive Phase III trial for a PARP inhibitor in breast cancer and the discussant, Dr. Allison Kurian, had an overall positive outlook stating that these results ”are practice-changing.”

ASCO Annual Meeting 2017 - Data were presented on LATITUDE, a randomized Phase III trial comparing Zytiga/prednisone plus androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) versus placebos plus ADT in newly-diagnosed high-risk metastatic hormone-naive prostate cancer (mHSPC). Based on these data, Zytiga will likely become the new standard of care for high-risk mHSPC patients. As the discussant, Eric Small, MD, stated, “LATITUDE was a profoundly positive study.”

ASCO Annual Meeting 2017 - If Lenvima is used in the first-line, will physicians need to wait to use Stivarga in the third-line setting after Nexavar is offered in the second-line? Could physicians’ preference to use first-line Nexavar and second-line Stivarga impact where Lenvima might be offered?

ASCO Annual Meeting 2017 - Given the hurdles, the data is only “semi-sweet”: good enough for regulatory approval, but the toxicities seen in MONARCH 2, and abemaciclib’s eventual third-to-market introduction might cause physicians to question when to offer the agent.