New breast cancer drug increases survival rates by 30%

CHICAGO – A new form of medication dramatically improves the survival rates of younger women with the most common type of bad cancer, researchers said Saturday, citing the results of an international clinical trial.

The findings, presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago, showed that the addition of ribociclib, a cell cycle inhibitor, increased survival rates to 70% after three years and half.

The mortality rate was 29% lower than that observed when patients under the age of 59 and pre-menopausal were randomly badigned to placebo.

Lead author, Sara Hurvitz, said the study looked at a form of bad cancer that is fed by estrogen, a hormone, and accounts for two-thirds of the cases among younger women.

It is usually treated with therapies that block the production of the hormone.

"You can actually get synergy … by adding one of those cell cycle inhibitors" to hormone blocking therapy, Hurvitz said.

The drug works by inhibiting the activity of cancer cell promoter enzymes.

The treatment is less toxic than traditional chemotherapy because it more selectively targets cancer cells, blocking their ability to multiply.

Approximately 268,000 new cases of bad cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women in the United States in 2019. The advanced form of the disease is the leading cause of cancer death among women aged 20 to 59 years.

Although advanced bad cancer is less common among younger women, its incidence has increased by 2% per year in the United States between 1978 and 2008 among women aged 20 to 39, according to a previous study.

The new trial, which involved more than 670 cases, only included women with advanced stage 4 cancer for whom they had not yet received blocking hormone therapy. .

"These are patients who tend to be diagnosed later, later in their illness, because we do not have optimal screening modalities for young women," Hurvitz said.

In addition, patients who develop early-stage bad cancer tend to have more complex cases.

"That's what makes us so excited, because it's a therapy that affects a lot of patients with advanced disease," Hurvitz added.

One pill is given daily for 21 days, followed by seven days of rest to allow the body to recover, since two-thirds of patients experience a moderate to severe decline in white blood cell counts.

Jamie Bennett, spokesman for Novartis, which markets the drug under the brand name Kisqali and funded the research, said the cost of taking this dose was $ 12,553.

But, she added, "the majority of US patients with commercial insurance will pay $ 0 per month for their Kisqali prescription."

Metastatic bad cancer is incurable and the majority of women taking this medication will require treatment for the rest of their lives.

Oncologist Harold Burstein, who did not participate in the research, said it was "an important study" after establishing that the use of cyclin inhibitors "resulted in a significant benefit for women's survival".

Burstein works for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

"Hopefully, this data will enable more women around the world to access this product, particularly in health systems that value value rigorously as part of their national access decisions." drugs, "added Burstein.

Hurvitz said she was interested in studying whether ribociclib could help reduce cancer in the egg at an early stage.

"We want to go to women who have been diagnosed with early stage disease, small tumors, tumors that have not gone to the lymph nodes, or have not gone to other parts of the body and see if we can prevent her coming back from metastasizing later, "she said.

A new global clinical trial is underway.