Dr. Hamilton on FDA Approval of Atezolizumab/Nab-Paclitaxel in TNBC

Erika P. Hamilton, MD, director of the Breast and Gynecologic Research Program at Sarah Cannon Research Institute, discusses the FDA approval of atezolizumab (Tecentriq) and nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane) as a first-line therapy for patients with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic PD-L1—positive triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).

The approval is based on the phase III IMpassion130 study, which showed that the addition of the PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab to nab-paclitaxel reduced the risk of progression or death by 38% versus nab-paclitaxel alone in these patients.

As this is the first checkpoint inhibitor approved in breast cancer, Hamilton says that this is the biggest breakthrough in TNBC treatment in decades. Additionally, she explains that those in the breast cancer community are excited to be on the “immunotherapy bandwagon,” which has been observed across several other tumor types. Specifically, she adds, this FDA indication is specific to a subset of patients whose tumors express PD-L1 positivity on their immune cells.