Dr. Kalinsky on the Potential Role of Ovarian Function Suppression in HR+/HER2- Breast Cancer

Kevin Kalinsky, MD, MS, director of the Glenn Family Breast Center and Breast Medical Oncology at Winship Cancer Institute, and acting associate professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine, discusses the potential role of ovarian function suppression in hormone receptor (HR)–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer.

During the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, findings from the phase 3 RxPONDER trial demonstrated that the addition of chemotherapy to endocrine therapy improved 5-year invasive disease-free survival and overall survival in premenopausal but not postmenopausal women with HR-positive, HER2-negative, lymph node–positive breast cancer and a recurrence score between 0 and 25.

However, these findings do not inform whether ovarian function suppression is responsible for the benefit observed with chemotherapy in young women with low-risk gene expression signatures, Kalinsky explains. Ovarian function suppression appears to be a significant contributor to chemotherapy response, but whether it is the only contributing factor has yet to be determined, Kalinsky says.

Moreover, because the RxPONDER trial was not powered to evaluate ovarian function suppression as an exploratory end point, additional research is needed, Kalinsky says.