Pyrotinib Under Study in Metastatic HER2-Positive Breast Cancer With Brain Metastasis
Posted: Tuesday, January 4, 2022
Researchers in Changsta, China, conducted a real-world exploratory analysis of the use of pyrotinib-based treatment of patients with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer with brain metastasis. The results suggest the pan-HER2 tyrosine kinase inhibitor has anticancer activity in terms of progression-free and overall survival in this patient population, particularly in combination with surgery or radiotherapy.
Led by Wenjun Yi, MD, of the Second Xiangya Hospital, China, the researchers analyzed multicenter data regarding the effects of pyrotinib treatment in 168 patients with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer, 39 of whom had brain metastasis at baseline.
Median follow-up time was 18.5 months. In the entire cohort, the median progression-free survival was 8.0 months (7.3–10.5 months), and overall survival was 19.1 months (15.1–22.9 months). According to the study investigators, high tumor mutation burden was associated with poor overall (P = .0072) and progression-free survival (P = .0028). Of the 39 patients with brain metastasis, 17 (43.6%) underwent surgery or radiation therapy and achieved a longer progression-free survival than those with brain metastasis who did not undergo surgery or radiation therapy (10.0 months vs. 7.7 months, P = .19) and significantly improved overall survival (20.7 months vs. 12.4 months, P = .021).
“In conclusion, pyrotinib shows promise as a novel pan-HER2 tyrosine kinase inhibitor for the treatment of brain metastasis and should be evaluated further,” the investigators commented. “[Tumor mutation burden] could be an exploratory biomarker for predicting progression-free and overall survival, but its clinical application still needs further verification.”
Disclosure: Full authors’ disclosures are available at clincancerres.aacrjournals.org.
