No need for radiation if neoadjuvant therapy led to a complete response in the lymph nodes.
The benefit of regional nodal irradiation in the treatment of breast cancer is well established for patients with pathologically positive axillary nodes, but whether it is also beneficial for patients whose nodes become pathologically tumor free (ypN0) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy remains unclear.
We evaluated whether regional nodal irradiation improves outcomes in patients with biopsy-proven, node-positive breast cancer who reach ypN0 status after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Patients with breast cancer with a clinical stage of T1 to T3 (tumor size, ≤2 cm to >5 cm), N1, and M0 (indicating spread to movable, ipsilateral level I and II axillary lymph nodes but no distant metastasis) who had ypN0 status after neoadjuvant chemotherapy were randomly assigned to receive regional nodal irradiation or no regional nodal irradiation. The primary end point was the interval of freedom from invasive breast cancer recurrence or death from breast cancer (invasive breast cancer recurrence—free interval). Secondary end points included the locoregional recurrence—free interval, the distant recurrence—free interval, disease-free survival, and overall survival. Safety was also assessed.
A total of 1641 patients were enrolled in the trial; 1556 were included in the primary-event analysis: 772 in the irradiation group and 784 in the no-irradiation group. After a median follow-up of 59.5 months, 109 primary end-point events (50 in the irradiation group and 59 in the no-irradiation group) had occurred. Regional nodal irradiation did not significantly increase the invasive breast cancer recurrence—free interval (hazard ratio, 0.88; 95% confidence interval, 0.60 to 1.28; P=0.51). Point estimates of survival free from the primary end-point events were 92.7% in the irradiation group and 91.8% in the no-irradiation group. Regional nodal irradiation did not increase the locoregional recurrence—free interval, the distant recurrence—free interval, disease-free survival, or overall survival. No deaths related to the protocol-specified therapy were reported, and no unexpected adverse events were observed. Grade 4 adverse events occurred in 0.5% of patients in the irradiation group and 0.1% of those in the no-irradiation group.
The addition of adjuvant regional nodal irradiation did not decrease the risk of invasive breast cancer recurrence or death from breast cancer in patients who had negative axillary nodes after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health; NSABP B-51—Radiation Therapy Oncology Group 1304 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01872975.)
Adding Palbociclib did not help, revealing that there is no need to continue with different hormonal therapy than the one used in first line. It also added more toxicity.
DON’T omit, there is still a benefit, especially in 6-10% patients.
The INAVO120 trial assessed inavolisib + palbociclib–fulvestrant vs placebo plus palbociclib–fulvestrant in PIK3CA-mutated, HR-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer, showing significant improvements in progression-free survival (PFS) (15.0 vs 7.3 months) and overall survival (OS) (34.0 vs 27.0 months). The triplet regimen achieved a higher overall response rate (ORR) (62.7% vs 28.0%), establishing it as a potential new standard for this endocrine-resistant population. Notably, side effects like hyperglycemia, stomatitis, diarrhea, and ocular effects were more frequent with inavolisib.
The WSG-KEYRICHED-1 phase II trial evaluated a chemotherapy-free neoadjuvant regimen of pembrolizumab plus trastuzumab and pertuzumab in HER2-enriched early breast cancer, achieving a pathological complete response (pCR) rate of 46.5% (95% CI 31.2–62.6%). No survival data (e.g., EFS or OS) were reported, but the regimen showed an acceptable safety profile with no new cardiac toxicity signals. The chemo-free approach suggests promising potential for de-escalation in this subtype, but we’ll need randomized trials to confirm its efficacy and safety.
Metronomic dose: low dose cytotoxic therapy at high frequency was studied in combination with an AI (cape at 500mg TID) and showed superiority over AI single agent, this may be an option for patients not tolerating CKD4/6 inhibitors.