Neoadjuvant Bevacizumab plus Chemotherapy versus Chemotherapy Alone to Treat Non-Metastatic Breast Cancer: A Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials

Application of neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined with anlotinib in occult breast cancer: A case report and review of literature

BACKGROUND

Occult breast cancer (OBC) is a special type of breast cancer presenting as axillary lymph node metastasis with undetectable primary lesions in the breast. Due to its low incidence and unique clinical manifestations, there is a lack of consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of OBC. We report a case of OBC treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined with anlotinib. The treatment was well tolerated, and the patient achieved a pathologic complete response.

CASE SUMMARY

A 53-year-old woman presented with a lump in her right axillary area with no primary lesions in the breast. Pathological biopsy confirmed right axillary metastatic carcinoma. Immunohistochemical staining results were positive for progesterone receptor, cytokeratin 7, specific breast markers GATA3 and gross cystic disease fluid protein-15. Tumor cells were negative for estrogen receptor, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2, cytokeratin 5/6, cytokeratin 20, and villin. The patient was diagnosed with OBC, and she underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined with anlotinib. Mastectomy plus axillary lymph node dissection was performed. The patient achieved pathologic complete response with no residual invasive tumor cells in the breast or axillary lymph nodes. Postoperatively, she received adjuvant radiotherapy and endocrine therapy.

CONCLUSION

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy and anlotinib had good efficacy and safety in the treatment of OBC and may be a new therapeutic option.

Long-term outcomes in patients with PET-predicted poor-responsive HER2-positive breast cancer treated with neoadjuvant bevacizumab added to trastuzumab and docetaxel: 5-year follow-up of the randomised Avataxher study

BACKGROUND

The open-label, randomised Phase 2 AVATAXHER study (NCT01142778) demonstrated that early PET assessment identified HER2-positive breast cancer patients who responded poorly to neoadjuvant docetaxel plus trastuzumab. Adding neoadjuvant bevacizumab for PET-predicted poor-responders improved pathological complete response (pCR) rates (43.8% vs 24.0%). We investigated long-term study outcomes.

METHODS

Patients were treated in three groups. All patients initially received two cycles of standard neoadjuvant therapy with [¹⁸F]-FDG PET conducted before each cycle. Those with ≥70% change in the maximum standardised uptake value (∆SUVmax) received four further cycles of standard neoadjuvant therapy (PET responders). PET-predicted poor-responders (∆SUVmax <70%) were randomised (2:1) to neoadjuvant therapy with (Group A) or without (Group B) bevacizumab for cycles 3-6. All patients received one further cycle of trastuzumab before surgery plus adjuvant trastuzumab (11 cycles).

FINDINGS

142 patients were randomized and treated (PET responders, n = 69; Group A, n = 48; Group B, n = 25). 5-year disease-free survival rates were 90.5% (95% CI: 80.0-95.6%) in PET responders, 90.2% (95% CI: 75.9-96.2%) in Group A, and 76.0% (95% CI: 54.2-88.4%) in Group B. However, no difference was observed between randomised arms in a sensitivity analysis. During adjuvant therapy, the incidence of Grade ≥3 (Group A: 25.6%; Group B 12.5%) and serious adverse events (Group A: 18.6%; Group B 12.5%) was higher in Group A vs Group B, but with no apparent effect on cardiac events.

INTERPRETATION

In patients with HER2-positive breast cancer, an intervention based on early PET assessment and improvement of pCR does not modify disease-free survival.

FUNDING

Roche France.

Regimens of neo-adjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of breast cancer: A systematic review & network meta-analysis with PRISMA-NMA compliance

Efficacy of neo-adjuvant therapy depends on the used regimens. There are contradictory findings regarding relative efficacy of these regimens. Accordingly, present study assessed the relative efficacy of Anthracyclines, Taxanes and added targeted therapies in neo-adjuvant setting simultaneously with a focus on tumor response and breast conserving surgery among breast cancer patients. The network meta-analysis model was used. Ranking of treatment was done by surface under cumulative ranking curve for each regimen. Out of 1286 screened records obtained by searching PubMed and Cochrane register of controlled trials, a total of 34 studies randomizing 12,630 breast cancer patients were included. Network meta-analysis for pathological complete response (pCR) revealed Addition of targeted therapies especially Trastuzumab for HER2+ breast cancer and Bevacizumab for HER2- breast cancer along with Anthracyclines and/or Taxanes based chemotherapy significantly improves pCR but with increased haematological toxicities. All the regimens performed similar in terms of breast conserving surgery rates.

Bevacizumab in the neoadjuvant treatment of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative breast cancer: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Several randomized clinical trials have suggested the effectiveness of bevacizumab (Bev) in early and advanced breast cancer; however, due to the increased toxicity and lack of a clear long-term survival benefit, there is currently no defined role for Bev in breast cancer in the USA, while it has been approved in Europe. We herein sought to conduct a meta-analysis of large randomized trials comparing the efficacy and long-term outcome of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with Bev compared with chemotherapy without Bev in human epidermal factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative breast cancer. A search was conducted through PubMed and Ovid Medline databases. Among the 279 articles identified, 5 met the eligibility criteria and were included in the present analysis. A total of 2,268 patients treated with Bev and 2,278 treated without Bev were analyzed. Pathological complete response (pCR) was obtained in 35% of patients treated with Bev and in 26% of those treated without Bev. A statistically significant increase (26%) in the incidence of pCR was observed in the Bev-treated group. However, patients treated with Bev exhibited no significant difference in the risk of disease recurrence or death. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first meta-analysis addressing the long-term outcomes of Bev in combination with chemotherapy in the neoadjuvant treatment of HER2-negative breast cancer. The results confirmed the significant benefit of Bev combined with chemotherapy compared with chemotherapy alone on breast cancer response, in both triple-negative and hormone receptor-positive cases. However, this benefit does not translate into a long-term disease-free or definitive overall survival advantage. Optimizing patient selection is desirable for maximizing the long-term benefits of Bev, while reducing cost and treatment-related adverse effects. Future efforts directed toward the discovery of predictive markers would be crucial for identifying the subset(s) of breast cancer patients who are most likely to benefit from Bev therapy.

Emerging ways to treat breast cancer: will promises be met?

BACKGROUND

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer among women and it is responsible for more than 40,000 deaths in the United States and more than 500,000 deaths worldwide each year. In previous decades, the development of improved screening, diagnosis and treatment methods has led to decreases in BC mortality rates. More recently, novel targeted therapeutic options, such as the use of monoclonal antibodies and small molecule inhibitors that target specific cancer cell-related components, have been developed. These components include ErbB family members (HER1, HER2, HER3 and HER4), Ras/MAPK pathway components (Ras, Raf, MEK and ERK), VEGF family members (VEGFA, VEGFB, VEGFC, VEGF and PGF), apoptosis and cell cycle regulators (BAK, BAX, BCL-2, BCL-X, MCL-1 and BCL-W, p53 and PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway components) and DNA repair pathway components such as BRCA1. In addition, long noncoding RNA inhibitor-, microRNA inhibitor/mimic- and immunotherapy-based approaches are being developed for the treatment of BC. Finally, a novel powerful technique called CRISPR-Cas9-based gene editing is emerging as a precise tool for the targeted treatment of cancer, including BC.

CONCLUSIONS

Potential new strategies that are designed to specifically target BC are presented. Several clinical trials using these strategies are already in progress and have shown promising results, but inherent limitations such as off-target effects and low delivery efficiencies still have to be resolved. By improving the clinical efficacy of current therapies and exploring new ones, it is anticipated that novel ways to overcome BC may become attainable.

The Effect of Perioperative Bevacizumab on Disease-Free and Overall Survival in Locally Advanced HER-2 Negative Breast Cancer: A Meta-Analysis

Introduction

Multiple trials demonstrated that adding Bevacizumab to the standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy in HER-2 negative breast cancer increases pathological complete response. We conducted this meta-analysis to evaluate that effect on survival.

Methods

We performed a systematic search for randomized trials measuring the effect of adding either neoadjuvant or adjuvant Bevacizumab to the standard chemotherapy on disease-free and overall survival in breast cancer surgical candidates. The Mantel-Haenszel method and random effect model were used to analyze the data. A total of 7 randomized controlled trials were included in the analysis with a mean follow-up of 45 months.

Results

No statistically significant difference in overall survival was found after adding Bevacizumab to the standard chemotherapy in the overall study population, HR=0.9, 95% CI (90.72-1.13), estrogen/ progesterone positive subgroup, HR=0.99, 95% CI (0.72-1.35), or in triple negative breast cancer, HR=0.88, 95% CI (0.77-1.01). However, there was a small but significant improvement in disease-free survival in triple negative breast cancer with a HR of 0.88, 95% CI (0.78-0.98), but not in estrogen/ progesterone receptor positive tumors, HR=1.01, 95% CI (0.81-1.26).

Conclusions

The addition of Bevacizumab along with the standard chemotherapy would not improve overall survival in breast cancer surgical candidates, however, due to a small but significant improvement on disease-free survival in triple negative breast cancer, that would not eliminate the possibility of a certain subgroup of the latter who might benefit from adding Bevacizumab.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy regimens in treatment of breast cancer: a systematic review and network meta-analysis protocol

BACKGROUND

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT), a standard of care for locally advanced breast cancer patients, is widely used for early breast cancer patients also. The varying role of regimens used as NACT needs to be investigated. Despite availability of some randomized controlled trials (RCTs), it is unclear which treatment regimen suits best. Further, there is no study comparing all the three regimens. Accordingly, present study will compare the efficacy of anthracyclines, taxanes, and targeted therapy administered in neoadjuvant setting on the basis of oncological outcomes and functional outcomes.

METHOD/DESIGN

Online databases PubMed and Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials will be searched to acquire eligible studies. Further, content of relevant journals, references of relevant articles, and proceedings of major related conference will also be searched. The RCTs comparing any of abovementioned regimen as NACT on breast cancer patients will be eligible. Two reviewers independently and in duplicate will screen the records on the basis of title and abstract and complete full-text review to determine eligibility. Similarly, data extraction and risk of bias assessment will be done by two independent reviewers. The pair-wise meta-analysis as well as network meta-analysis will be conducted to assess the relative efficacy of anthracyclines, taxanes, and targeted therapy regimens.

DISCUSSION

The present systematic review will improve the understanding of the relative efficacies of the three treatment regimens and possibly guide the clinical practices by providing the current best evidence on the efficacy of various regimens of NACT in the management of breast cancer patients.

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION

PROSPERO ( CRD42016027236 ).

Neoadjuvant Therapy for Breast Cancer: Established Concepts and Emerging Strategies

In the last decade, the systemic treatment approach for patients with early breast cancer has partly shifted from adjuvant treatment to neoadjuvant treatment. Systemic treatment administration started as a 'one size fits all' approach but is currently customized according to each breast cancer subtype. Systemic treatment in a neoadjuvant setting is at least as effective as in an adjuvant setting and has several additional advantages. First, it enables response monitoring and provides prognostic information; second, it downstages the tumor, allowing for less extensive surgery, improved cosmetic outcomes, and reduced postoperative complications such as lymphedema; and third, it enables early development of new treatment strategies by using pathological complete remission as a surrogate outcome of event-free and overall survival. In this review we give an overview of the current standard of neoadjuvant systemic treatment strategies for the three main subtypes of breast cancer: hormone receptor-positive, triple-negative, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive. Additionally, we summarize drugs that are under investigation for use in the neoadjuvant setting.

Phase II Trial of Bevacizumab Plus Weekly Paclitaxel, Carboplatin, and Metronomic Cyclophosphamide With or Without Trastuzumab and Endocrine Therapy as Preoperative Treatment of Inflammatory Breast Cancer

BACKGROUND

Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is a rare and highly aggressive disease. A neoadjuvant regimen with chemotherapy and an antiangiogenic strategy was investigated.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Patients with primary or recurrent IBC who were candidates for neoadjuvant treatment received weekly carboplatin and paclitaxel plus bevacizumab every 3 weeks and oral metronomic cyclophosphamide for 6 months. Trastuzumab was added for patients with HER2⁺ tumors and endocrine therapy was added for patients with estrogen receptor and/or progesterone receptor ≥ 10% tumors. Oral metronomic capecitabine and cyclophosphamide was continued for 6 months after surgery in those patients with a response. The primary efficacy endpoints were pathologic complete remission (pCR) and the objective response.

RESULTS

From July 2010 to December 2013, 34 patients with IBC were included. The surrogate intrinsic tumor subtypes were as follows: luminal B-like (HER2^-), 10 (29%); luminal B-like (HER2⁺), 8 (24%); HER2⁺ (nonluminal), 6 (18%); and triple negative, 10 (29%). An objective response was obtained in 30 patients (88%; 95% confidence interval, 73%-97%) and a pCR in 10 patients (29%; 95% confidence interval, 15%-48%). The proportion of pCR was significantly greater in the patients with HER2⁺ tumors (57%) than in patients with triple-negative (20%) or luminal B-like (HER2^-) tumors (0%; P = .019). After a median follow-up of 4.4 years, the 5-year disease-free survival and overall survival was 58% and 72%, respectively. The achievement of pCR was associated with longer disease-free (P = .12) and overall (P = .029) survival.

CONCLUSION

In patients with IBC, neoadjuvant treatment with the investigated regimen was successful and well tolerated. Further studies evaluating the potential benefit of an antiangiogenic strategy in this setting are awaited.

Effect of Lipodox in combination with bevacizumab in a patient with a metastatic malignant phyllodes breast tumor: A case report

A 76-year-old female patient with a malignant phyllodes tumor underwent modified radical mastectomy and wide excision. Multiple nodules were observed in the operated wound area. Positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) revealed recurrent disease in the left breast, the adjacent left third rib, the left internal mammary region and the left ilium. A novel formulation of bevacizumab (5 mg/m², first day) in combination with liposomal doxorubicin (Lipodox, 30 mg/m², second day) was administered for 3 cycles every 2 weeks, and subsequently wide excision was performed. Lipodox (40 mg/m²) was administered for 3 cycles every 3 weeks, starting 4 weeks after the surgery. Follow-up whole body PET-CT scanning, 3 and 6 months later, indicated no sign of residual hypermetabolic malignancy. Malignant phyllodes tumors do not usually respond to chemotherapy or radiotherapy. In the present case report, a novel formulation of bevacizumab in combination with Lipodox was administered as neoadjuvant chemotherapy in a patient with a malignant phyllodes tumor and preoperative tumor shrinkage was achieved, resulting in clear resection margins.

Clinical results of randomized trials and 'real-world' data exploring the impact of Bevacizumab for breast cancer: opportunities for clinical practice and perspectives for research

INTRODUCTION

Angiogenesis plays a fundamental role in breast cancer (BC) growth, progression and metastatic spread. After the promising introduction of bevacizumab for the treatment of advanced BC, the initial enthusiasm decreased when the FDA withdrew its approval in 2011. Nevertheless, several clinical studies exploring the role of bevacizumab have been subsequently published. Areas covered: The aim of this study is to review the available clinical trials exploring the potential effectiveness of bevacizumab in BC, regardless of the disease setting. Expert opinion: Even if the evidence suggests that bevacizumab must be ruled out from the HER2-positive and adjuvant setting, bevacizumab's benefit remains uncertain in the neoadjuvant setting and in the advanced treatment of HER2-negative patients. In the first setting, the addition of bevacizumab to chemotherapy increased the pathological complete response (pCR) rate in most clinical trials. However, the current absence of evidence that pCR is a trial-level surrogate for survival requires waiting for long-term results. In the advanced setting, all trials showed a benefit in progression-free survival, but not in overall survival, highlighting an increase of adverse events. The lack of predictors of response represents the main unmet need in which future clinical research will undoubtedly invest.

Germline Genetic Variants in TEK, ANGPT1, ANGPT2, MMP9, FGF2 and VEGFA Are Associated with Pathologic Complete Response to Bevacizumab in Breast Cancer Patients

BACKGROUND

We previously reported improved pathologic complete response (pCR) in a prospective phase II study using neoadjuvant bevacizumab in combination with chemotherapy compared to chemotherapy alone in breast cancer patients (41% vs. 25%, p = 0.0291). In this study, we queried germline single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in angiogenesis-related genes for their impact on pCR and overall survival (OS).

METHODS

DNA for genotyping was available from 34 subjects who received bevacizumab in addition to chemotherapy and 29 subjects who did not. Using Illumina® technology, we queried 504 SNPs with a minor allele frequency (MAF) of at least 5%, located in 10 angiogenesis-related genes, for their effect on pCR via logistic regression with an additive-inheritance model while adjusting for race and bevacizumab treatment. SNPs that showed significant associations with pCR were selected for additional characterization.

RESULTS

After adjusting for race and tumor type, patients who had bevacizumab added to their neoadjuvant therapy were found to experience a significantly improved rate of pCR compared to patients who did not (adjusted OR 8.40, 95% CI 1.90-37.1). When patients were analyzed for SNP effects via logistic regression with race and bevacizumab treatment included as covariates, two SNPs in angiopoietin 1 (ANGPT1), six in ANGPT2, three in fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2), four in matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9), three in tyrosine kinase, endothelial (TEK) and two in vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) were associated with pCR (P<0.05). However, when overall survival was considered, there was no difference between treatment groups or between genotypes.

CONCLUSION

Genetic variability in TEK, ANGPT1, ANGPT2, FGF2, MMP9 and VEGFA is associated with pCR in bevacizumab-treated patients. Consistent with other studies, adding bevacizumab to standard chemotherapy did not impact OS, likely due to other factors and thus, while SNPs in TEK, ANGPT1, ANGPT2, FGF2, MMP9 and VEGFA were associated with pCR, they were not predictive of OS in this patient population.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00203502.

Identification of Biomarkers for Breast Cancer Using Databases

Breast cancer is one of the major causes of cancer death in women. Many studies have sought to identify specific molecules involved in breast cancer and understand their characteristics. Many biomarkers which are easily measurable, dependable, and inexpensive, with a high sensitivity and specificity have been identified. The rapidly increasing technology development and availability of epigenetic informations play critical roles in cancer. The accumulated data have been collected, stored, and analyzed in various types of databases. It is important to acknowledge useful and available data and retrieve them from databases. Nowadays, many researches utilize the databases, including The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER), and Embase, to find useful informations on biomarkers for breast cancer. This review summarizes the current databases which have been utilized for identification of biomarkers for breast cancer. The information provided by this review would be beneficial to seeking appropriate strategies for diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.

Bevacizumab Addition in Neoadjuvant Treatment Increases the Pathological Complete Response Rates in Patients with HER-2 Negative Breast Cancer Especially Triple Negative Breast Cancer: A Meta-Analysis

Background

Neoadjuvant therapy is administered to breast cancer patients as an induction process before surgery or radiotherapy to reduce tumor size. Human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) negative breast cancer lacks effective standard target therapy. Bevacizumab has a controversial role in the treatment of breast cancer and we conduct a meta-analysis to evaluate the value of adding bevacizumab in neoadjuvant regimen.

Methods

Potentially eligible studies were retrieved using PubMed, EMBASE and Medline. Clinical characteristics of patients and statistical data with pathological complete response (pCR) data were collected. Then a meta-analysis model was established to investigate the correlation between administration of bevacizumab in neoadjuvant therapy and pCR rates in HER-2 negative breast cancer.

Results

Seven eligible studies and 5408 patients were yielded. The pCR rates for “breast” or “breast plus lymph node” were similar. In subgroup analysis, we emphasized on patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). In the criterion of “lesions in breast” the pooled ORs was 1.55 [1.29, 1.86], P<0.00001 and regarding to the evaluation criterion of “lesions in breast and lymph nodes”, the pooled ORs was 1.48 [1.23, 1.78], P<0.0001, in favor of bevacizumab administration.

Conclusion

According to our pooled results, we finally find that bevacizumab addition as a neoadjuvant chemotherapy component, for induction use with limited cycle to improve the pCR rates and patients may avoid long-term adverse event and long-term invalid survival improvement. Especially in subgroup analysis, pCR rates could be improved significantly and physicians could consider bevacizumab with caution. As patients could avoid the adverse event caused by long-term using of bevacizumab, long-term quality of life improvement may be achieved, especially in TNBC.

[Not Available]

NEOADJUVANT CHEMOTHERAPY IN HER2-POSITIVE AND TRIPLE-NEGATIVE BREAST CANCER: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is a standard option in the management of operable breast cancer, as effective as adjuvant chemotherapy in term of survival and with the potential to increase the rate of breast conservation. In HER2+ and triple-negative breast cancers, neoadjuvant chemotherapy is associated with a high probability of pathological complete response, which strongly predicts survival outcome. In HER2+ breast cancer, trastuzumab, in combination with neoadjuvant chemotherapy, mostly anthracyclines and taxane-based, demonstrated a significant increase in pathological complete response rate. Recently, dual HER2 blockade strategies (lapatinib-trastuzumab or pertuzumab-trastuzumab) demonstrated a significant improvement in terms of pathological complete response over trastuzumab. In triple-negative breast cancer, recent data indicate that incorporating platinum compounds to neoadjuvant chemotherapy also significantly improves this parameter. Yet, in both subtypes, whether these substantial improvements may lead to significant benefits in terms of survival and breast conserving surgery remains to be demonstrated.