Fulvestrant 500 mg in postmenopausal patients with metastatic breast cancer: the initial clinical experience

Venous Thromboembolism in Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objective: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a life-threatening complication that may exacerbate cancer prognosis. Whilst some studies indicate an increased risk of VTE in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, the prevalence estimates on the pooled prevalence of VTE in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy are not known. This study aims to calculate the pooled prevalence of VTE in chemotherapy-treated cancer patients. Methods: Studies on VTE occurrence in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy were retrieved after database search. The terms used included “cancer”, “chemotherapy”, and “venous thromboembolism”. A random-effects meta-analysis was conducted to obtain a pooled estimate of VTE prevalence in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Results: A total of 102 eligible studies involving 30,671 patients (1773 with VTE, 28,898 without) were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled estimate of VTE prevalence was found to be 6%, ranging from 6% to 7% (ES 6%; 95% CI 6−7%; z = 18.53; p < 0.001). Conclusions: The estimated pooled prevalence rate of VTEs was 6% in cancer patients undergoing CRT, which was higher than the overall crude prevalence rate (5.78%). Comprehensive cancer care should consider stratified VTE risk assessment based on cancer phenotype, given that certain phenotypes of cancer such as bladder, gastric and ovarian posing particularly high risks of VTE.

Optimal duration of prior endocrine therapy predicts the efficacy of Fulvestrant in a real-world study for patients with hormone receptor-positive and HER2-negative advanced breast cancer

Fulvestrant 500 mg is standard of care for endocrine therapy-naive or pretreated women with hormone receptor-positive (HR+) metastatic breast cancer (MBC). This study was conducted to explore the potential factors and duration of last endocrine therapy as predictors for the efficacy of fulvestrant 500 mg on Chinese patients in real-world practice. Two hundred and fifty-two MBC patients who were treated with fulvestrant 500 mg consecutively between January 2011 and December 2015 in our institute were included in this study. Efficacy outcomes included progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and clinical benefit rate (CBR). The optimal cut-off value for duration of last endocrine therapy was determined by survival ROC analysis. Adverse events were graded according to NCI-CTC AE 4.0. Fulvestrant 500 mg demonstrated a median PFS of 5.8 months (95%CI 4.6-6.9), and a median OS of 35.9 months (95%CI 30.2-41.4). CBR was 41.3% (95%CI 35-47). Liver metastasis, bone alone metastasis, lines of endocrine therapy for MBC, and sensitivity to last endocrine therapy were statistically significant in the Cox multivariate analysis (P values of 0.022, 0.02, 0.03, and 0.038, respectively). The optimal cut-off values for duration of last endocrine therapy to predict the efficacy of fulvestrant 500 mg were 25.08 months for adjuvant endocrine therapy and 5.17 months for first-line endocrine therapy, which showed no difference in prediction power with ABC clinical definition. Patients with prior adjuvant endocrine therapy ≥25.08 months or first-line therapy≥5.17 months reached a longer PFS of fulvestrant (p = 0.04). Six patients discontinued the treatment due to intolerable adverse events. Patients with the duration of prior endocrine therapy longer than optimal cut-off points indicate better PFS of fulvestrant. Liver metastasis, bone alone metastasis, line of fulvestrant, and sensitivity to last endocrine therapy were also predictors for response of fulvestrant. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03708432.

Efficacy of fulvestrant 500 mg in Chinese postmenopausal women with advanced/recurrent breast cancer and factors associated with prolonged time-to-treatment failure: A retrospective case series

This study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of fulvestrant 500 mg for the treatment of hormone receptor positive advanced postmenopausal women, including ovarian ablation and investigated factors associated with prolonged time-to-treatment failure.Data from 60 women with metastatic breast cancer who were treated at Zhejiang Cancer Hospital. Patients received 500 mg (n = 60) between December 2011 and November 2012 were followed until November 2017. Main outcomes were clinical responses to fulvestrant, including best response, progressive disease, partial response, and stable disease lasting 12 months or more. Time to progression and time to progression-free-survival were also analyzed.Among the included 60 patients (mean age 47.18 years), 51 (85.0%) had received prior adjuvant therapy. During follow-up after fulvestrant treatment, the median PFS for the best response was derived as 7.0 months (inter-quartile = 4, 13.8 months). The observed median progression-free-survival time for best response was represented longer when fulvestrant was first-line treatment than when patients received prior endocrine and/or chemotherapy. Univariate analysis revealed that receiving either endocrine therapy only or endocrine therapy plus chemotherapy prior to fulvestrant treatment may be associated with median progression-free survival time to best response (P = .002, .026, .007, respectively).Fulvestrant treatment is safe and well-tolerated in women with hormone-sensitive advanced breast cancer, and first-line fulvestrant therapy increases progression-free-survival time, especially in patients without prior adjuvant treatment.

Patterns of treatment and outcome with 500-mg fulvestrant in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive/HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer: a real-life multicenter Italian experience

Background:

Fulvestrant 500 mg (F500) is the most active endocrine single agent in hormone receptor-positive (HR+)/HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer (MBC). Few data are available regarding the effectiveness of the drug in a real-world setting.

Patients and methods:

This prospective, multicenter cohort study aimed to describe the patterns of treatment and performance of F500 in a large population of unselected women with MBC, focusing on potential prognostic or predictive factors for disease outcome and response. The primary endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS) and clinical benefit rate.

Results:

From January 2011 to December 2015, 490 consecutive patients treated with F500 were enrolled. Overall, three different cohorts were identified and analyzed: the first received F500 after progression from previous chemotherapy (CT) or endocrine therapy; the second received the drug for de novo metastatic disease; and the third was treated as maintenance following disease stabilization or a response from a previous CT line. Median overall survival (OS) in the whole population was 26.8 months, ranging from 32.4 in first line to 22.0 and 13.7 months in second line and subsequent lines, respectively. Both the presence of liver metastasis and the treatment line were significantly associated with a worse PFS, while only the presence of liver metastasis maintained its predictive role for OS in multivariate analysis.

Conclusions:

The effectiveness of F500 was detected in patients treated both upon disease progression and as maintenance. The relevant endocrine sensitivity of 80% of patients included in the study could probably explain the good results observed in terms of outcome.

Treatment after Progression on Fulvestrant among Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients in Clinical Practice: a Multicenter, Retrospective Study

Fulvestrant (Ful) is an effective and widely used agent for first- and second-line treatment of hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2-negative (HR+/HER2-) metastatic breast cancer (MBC). However, there is no evidence of treatment after progression on Ful. Our study aimed to investigate the profile of daily practice regarding therapy after Ful. A consecutive series of 131 HR+, HER2- MBC patients who failed Ful 500 mg as first-line or second-line therapy from June 2014 to June 2017 in 6 institutions were included and analysed. Among 131 patients who failed Ful with similar baseline characteristics, 31 (23.7%) received endocrine therapy (ET), and 100 (76.3%) were treated with chemotherapy (CT). The most frequently applied CT regimen was capecitabine (32%), and the ET regimen was exemestane + everolimus (35.5%). Multivariate analysis showed that patients with bone-only metastasis were associated with lower CT use (OR = 7.97, 95% CI 1.51-41.84, P = 0.01). Among patients who received CT and ET as subsequent treatments, the median progression-free survival (PFS) was 7.5 months (95% CI 6.2-8.8) and 6.0 months (95% CI 4.1-7.9), respectively (p = 0.03). Among patients who were resistant to Ful (PFS < 6 months), the PFS on CT was significantly longer than that on ET (7.1 months vs 3.9 months, p = 0.024, HR = 0.5, 95% CI 0.26-0.97); however, among patients with a PFS ≥6 months on Ful, the efficacy of CT and ET was similar. Additionally, among patients with an older age, bone-only metastasis and ≥3 metastatic sites, no significant difference was observed between the CT and ET groups. Moreover, ET was much more tolerated than CT in terms of the incidence of grade 3/4 toxicities (9.6% vs 27%, P < 0.05). Median overall survival (OS) was not reached. Thus, our findings reveal the pattern of post-Ful treatment in current clinical practice and provide evidence on the efficacy, safety and choice of these treatments.

Factors associated with prolonged time to treatment failure with fulvestrant 500 mg in patients with post-menopausal estrogen receptor-positive advanced breast cancer: a sub-group analysis of the JBCRG-C06 Safari study

OBJECTIVE

The JBCRG-C06 Safari study showed that earlier fulvestrant 500 mg (F500) use, a longer time from diagnosis to F500 use, and no prior palliative chemotherapy were associated with significantly longer time to treatment failure (TTF) among Japanese patients with estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) advanced breast cancer (ABC). The objective of this sub-group analysis was to further examine data from the Safari study, focusing on ER + and human epidermal growth factor receptor-negative (HER2-) cases.

METHODS

The Safari study (UMIN000015168) was a retrospective, multi-center cohort study, conducted in 1,072 patients in Japan taking F500 for ER + ABC. The sub-analysis included only patients administered F500 as second-line or later therapy (n = 960). Of these, 828 patients were HER2-. Results Multivariate analysis showed that advanced age (≥65 years; p = .035), longer time (≥3 years) from ABC diagnosis to F500 use (p < .001), no prior chemotherapy (p < .001), and F500 treatment line (p < .001) were correlated with prolonged TTF (median = 5.39 months).

CONCLUSIONS

In ER+/HER2- patients receiving F500 as a second-line or later therapy, treatment line, advanced age, no prior palliative chemotherapy use, and a longer period from ABC diagnosis to F500 use were associated with longer TTF.

Fulvestrant 500 milligrams as endocrine therapy for endocrine sensitive advanced breast cancer patients in the real world: the Ful500 prospective observational trial

The observational prospective trial herein presented aimed at evaluating the efficacy of fulvestrant 500 mg in the treatment of endocrine sensitive advanced breast cancer patients from the real world setting. The primary end point was clinical benefit rate (CBR). Secondary end points were overall survival (OS), progression free survival (PFS) and tolerability. One hundred sixty three patients were enrolled. At a median follow up of 20 months, the 61% of patients reached CBR, whose median duration was 10.8 months. Median PFS and OS were 7 and 35 months, respectively. Endocrine sensitive patients showed better PFS and OS. No relevant toxicity appeared when analyzing safety data. In multivariate analysis, visceral involvement, endocrine sensitivity and previous endocrine therapy were prognostic factor for PFS, whereas endocrine sensitivity and metastasis at diagnosis had prognostic relevance for OS. Estrogen receptor expression >50%, single metastatic site, and no prior endocrine therapy for advanced disease were predictive of CBR. In this prospective trial, fulvestrant 500 mg appeared to be a safe and active treatment and confirmed its efficacy in the daily clinical practice. A high percent expression of estrogen receptors (above 50%) was associated with higher CBR. Treatment was very well tolerated. Endocrine sensitivity had a major impact on treatment outcome. As expected, patients who had received first-line endocrine therapy for advanced disease exhibited worse outcome and a lower CBR.

Efficacy of fulvestrant 500 mg in Japanese postmenopausal advanced/recurrent breast cancer patients and factors associated with prolonged time-to-treatment failure

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to confirm the efficacy of fulvestrant in Japanese postmenopausal advanced/recurrent breast cancer (ABC) patients, and investigate factors contributing to time-to-treatment failure (TTF) prolongation.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

This retrospective study included 194 ABC patients who received fulvestrant (500 mg) from January 2012 to December 2014.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

TTF (efficacy measure), overall survival (OS), factors prolonging TTF and adverse events were evaluated.

RESULTS

The median age was 65 (42 - 90) years. Overall, TTF was 5.48 months. In patients without prior chemotherapy (n = 59), OS was significantly longer (p = 0.0131) than in patients with prior chemotherapy (n = 135). There was no strong correlation between TTF with fulvestrant and other endocrine therapies, total duration of endocrine therapy and maximum duration of endocrine therapy. TTF was significantly longer in patients with less than two prior chemotherapy regimens (p = 0.0093), de novo metastatic disease (p = 0.0124) and without liver metastasis (p = 0.0024). We observed one case each of pulmonary infarction and psychiatric disorder.

CONCLUSIONS

Fulvestrant is effective for ABC patients and may show greater efficacy in patients with few prior chemotherapy regimens, de novo metastatic disease and absence of liver metastasis. Prior endocrine therapy duration might not be a predictive factor for fulvestrant TTF in heavily treated ABC patients.