Video

Dr. Ellis on Potential Impact of CDK4/6 Inhibitors in Breast Cancer

Matthew Ellis, MD, PhD, director, Smith Breast Center, Baylor College of Medicine, discusses questions regarding the impact of CDK4/6 inhibitors in breast cancer.

Matthew Ellis, MD, PhD, director, Smith Breast Center, Baylor College of Medicine, discusses questions regarding the impact of CDK4/6 inhibitors in breast cancer.

In metastatic disease, the addition of a CDK4/6 inhibitor has shown a benefit in delaying disease progression in trials. But, Ellis adds, the question that remains is do these drugs—ribociclib (Kisqali), palbociclib (Ibrance), and abemaciclib—improve overall survival.

Another question is whether these drugs will improve outcome in early disease. Not all patients benefit from CDK4/6 inhibitors, and other avenues such as neoadjuvant endocrine therapy or genomic models may be more beneficial for that subset.

According to Ellis, current trials are too immature to give definite answers to these questions.

<<<

View more from the St. Gallen's Breast Cancer Conference

Related Videos
Sagar D. Sardesai, MBBS
DB-12
Albert Grinshpun, MD, MSc, head, Breast Oncology Service, Shaare Zedek Medical Center
Erica L. Mayer, MD, MPH, director, clinical research, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; associate professor, medicine, Harvard Medical School
Stephanie Graff, MD, and Chandler Park, FACP
Mariya Rozenblit, MD, assistant professor, medicine (medical oncology), Yale School of Medicine
Maxwell Lloyd, MD, clinical fellow, medicine, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Neil Iyengar, MD, and Chandler Park, MD, FACP
Azka Ali, MD, medical oncologist, Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute
Rena Callahan, MD, and Chandler Park, MD, FACP