Dr. O'Shaughnessy on Everolimus in Breast Cancer

Joyce A. O’Shaughnessy, MD, the Co-Director of Breast Cancer Research at the Baylor Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center; Texas Oncology, PA/US Oncology, Dallas, Texas, describes potentially practice changing findings from the BOLERO-3 trial.

In the phase III BOLERO-3 trial, weekly trastuzumab and vinorelbine where administered with or without everolimus in trastuzumab-resistant, advanced HER2-positive breast cancer. According to a press release, O'Shaughnesy states, the triplet of everolimus, trastuzumab, and vinorelbine improved progression-free survival in patients with metastatic breast cancer.

This trial suggests a viable new option for patients with HER2-positive disease, O’Shaughnessy believes. Moreover, everolimus is already approved, which allows for immediate use in this space.

Looking closer at the patient population in the trial, O'Shaughnessy notes interest in exploring the differences observed between subgroups of patients with HER2-positive and ER-positive disease. This desire is enhanced by positive data from the BOLERO-2 trial, which examined everolimus plus exemestane in patients with ER-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer.

O'Shaughnessy anticipates that further data supporting the everolimus treatment strategy will likely be presented in the BOLERO-2 biomarker analysis. Furthermore, she notes special interest in the occurrence of PIK3CA mutations, which predict the effectiveness of everolimus.

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