Rate of event-free survival higher with neoadjuvant pembrolizumab plus chemo versus chemo alone for early triple-negative breast cancer<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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THURSDAY, Feb. 10, 2022 (HealthDay News) — For patients with previously untreated stage II or III triple-negative breast cancer, the rate of event-free survival is higher for those receiving neoadjuvant pembrolizumab combined with chemotherapy versus neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone, according to a study published in the Feb. 10 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine<\/em>.<\/p>\n Peter Schmid, M.D., Ph.D., from Queen Mary University of London, and colleagues randomly assigned patients with previously untreated stage II or III triple-negative breast cancer in a 2:1 ratio to receive neoadjuvant therapy with four cycles of pembrolizumab or placebo every three weeks plus paclitaxel and carboplatin, followed by pembrolizumab or placebo plus doxorubicin-cyclophosphamide or epirubicin-cyclophosphamide (four cycles). Patients received adjuvant pembrolizumab or placebo every three weeks (up to nine cycles) after definitive surgery. Overall, 784 patients were assigned to pembrolizumab-chemotherapy and 390 were assigned to placebo-chemotherapy. The median follow-up was 39.1 months at this fourth planned interim analysis.<\/p>\n In the fourth planned interim analysis, the researchers found that at 36 months, the estimated event-free survival was 84.5 and 76.8 percent in the pembrolizumab-chemotherapy and placebo-chemotherapy groups, respectively (hazard ratio for event or death, 0.63). Adverse events mainly occurred during the neoadjuvant phase and were consistent with established safety profiles for pembrolizumab and chemotherapy.<\/p>\n “The results of this trial support the use of pembrolizumab plus platinum-, taxane-, and anthracycline-containing neoadjuvant chemotherapy, followed by adjuvant pembrolizumab after surgery, as a treatment regimen for patients with high-risk, early triple-negative breast cancer,” the authors write.<\/p>\n The study was supported by Merck Sharp and Dohme, a subsidiary of Merck, the manufacturer of pembrolizumab.<\/p>\n Abstract\/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)<\/a><\/p>\n <\/i><\/p>\n