First success of immunotherapy for triple negative breast cancer

There is new hope for people with a type of aggressive breast cancer, as evidenced for the first time by an immunotherapy trial that extends the lives of people with cancer triple-negative breast.

A new study conducted by Queen Mary's University of London and St Bartholomew's Hospital has shown that by combining immunotherapy and chemotherapy, the body's immune system could be used to fight triple negative breast cancer , thus prolonging the survival of 10 months.

The research, published today in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the congress of the European Society of Medical Oncology in Munich in 2018, also showed that combined treatment reduced the risk of death or cancer progression by 40%.

Triple-negative breast cancer often affects young women, many of whom have been diagnosed in their forties or fifties. The standard treatment is chemotherapy, which most patients quickly develop resistance to. If the disease spreads to other parts of the body, survival is often only 12 to 15 months.

The new treatment combines standard weekly chemotherapy with atezolizumab immunotherapy drug, administered once every two weeks. The combination works in chemotherapeutant & # 39; rough & # 39; cancer surface, which allows the immune system to better recognize and therefore fight cancer as a foreign object.

The trial's author, Professor Peter Schmid, professor of cancer medicine at Queen Mary University in London and clinical director of the Breast Cancer Center of St. Bartholomew Hospital, explained: "These results are a big step forward.We are changing the way breast cancer triple negative Cancer is being treated to prove for the first time that immune therapy has a substantial benefit on survival.We use chemotherapy to tear off the protective coat immune system "of the tumor in order to expose it as well as to allow the immune system to emancipate to get there.

"Triple negative breast cancer is an aggressive form of breast cancer, we are desperate for better treatment options, and it is particularly tragic that those affected are often young, many of whom have young families. I am delighted with the combination of immunotherapy and chemotherapy, we are able to extend life considerably compared to the standard treatment of chemotherapy alone. "

Based on the results of this trial, this new treatment is currently under review by health authorities and is expected to be available soon in the NHS. In the meantime, patients with triple negative breast cancer from Saint Barthelemy Hospital benefit from immunotherapy as part of ongoing trials.

Explore further:
Researchers identify potential new treatment for a subgroup of women with triple negative breast cancer

More information:
"Atezolizumab and Nab-Paclitaxel in Advanced Triple-Negative Breast Cancer". Peter Schmid et al. New England Journal of Medicine, 2018.