Addition of Veliparib to Standard Neoadjuvant Therapy in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Posted: Thursday, May 24, 2018
The addition of veliparib to carboplatin and paclitaxel as neoadjuvant therapy did not increase the pathologic complete response rate in women with triple-negative breast cancer, based on the findings of the BrighTNess study, conducted by Sibylle Loibl, MD, of the German Breast Group, Neu-Isenburg, Germany, and colleagues. The results of this phase III randomized trial were published in The Lancet Oncology.
“The evidence does not support the addition of veliparib, at the dose and schedule used in this trial, to carboplatin-containing neoadjuvant regimens for triple-negative breast cancer,” the investigators concluded.
Enrolled in the study were 634 women with previously untreated, stage II–III triple-negative breast cancer across 145 sites in 15 countries. Participants were randomly assigned (2:1:1) to receive paclitaxel, carboplatin, and veliparib (316); paclitaxel plus carboplatin (160); or paclitaxel alone (158). After this segment, all patients received doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide every 2 to 3 weeks for 4 cycles.
The proportion of patients who achieved a pathologic complete response was higher in the paclitaxel, carboplatin, and veliparib group than in the paclitaxel alone group (53% vs. 31%) but not compared with the paclitaxel plus carboplatin group (58%). Grade 3 and 4 toxicities were more common with the carboplatin regimens, but veliparib did not appear to substantially increase toxicity. Through complete treatment, grade 3 or 4 neutropenia occurred in more than half of all patients, and grade 3 or 4 anemia occurred in about one-third of all patients.
