First- and second-line treatment strategies for hormone-receptor (HR)-positive HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer: A real-world study

Background: Endocrine therapy (ET) plus cyclin-dependent-kinases 4/6 inhibitors (CDK4/6i) represents the standard treatment for luminal-metastatic breast cancer (MBC). However, prospective head-to-head comparisons are still lacking for 1st line (L) options, and it is still crucial to define the best strategy between 1st and 2nd L.

Materials and methods: 717 consecutive luminal-MBC pts treated between 2008 and 2020 were analyzed at the Oncology Department of Aviano and Udine, Italy. Differences about survival outcomes (OS, PFS and PPS) were tested by log-rank test. The attrition rate (AR) between 1st and 2ndL was calculated.

Results: At 1^stL, pts were treated with ET (49%), chemotherapy (CT) (31%) and ET-CDKi (20%) while, at 2^ndL, 33% received ET, 33% CT and 8% ET-CDKi. Overall AR was 10%, 7% for CT, 8% for ET and 17% for ET-CDKi. By multivariate analysis, 1^stL ET-CDK4/6i showed a better mPFS1 and OS. Moreover, 2^ndL ET-CDK4/6i demonstrated better mPFS2 compared to ET and CT. Notably, 1^stL ET-CDKi resulted in higher mPFS than 2ndL ET-CDKi. Intriguingly, 1^stL ET-CDK4/6i was associated with worse mPPS compared to CT and ET. Secondarily, 1^stL ET-CDK4/6i followed by CT had worse OS compared to 1^stL ET-CDK4/6i followed by ET. Notably, none of baseline characteristics at 2^ndL influenced 2^ndL treatment choice (ET vs. CT) after ET-CDKi.

Conclusion: Our real-world data demonstrated that ET-CDKi represents the best option for 1^stL luminal-MBC compared to ET and CT. Also, the present study pointed out that 2^ndL ET, potentially combined with other molecules, could be a feasible option after CDK4/6i failure, postponing CT on later lines.