Dr. Perez Discusses the CLEOPATRA Pertuzumab Trial

Edith A. Perez, MD, deputy director, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, Florida, director, Breast Program, Serene M. and Frances C. Durling Professor of Medicine, Mayo Medical School, expresses that in order to increase the outcomes for breast cancer patients there has been a push toward targeted approaches, such as those used in the CLEOPATRA trial.

The CLEOPATRA trial, a phase III double-blind study of 808 women, included patients that were eligible to receive a first-line treatment for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. The trial randomly added placebo or pertuzumab, an inhibitor of HER2 dimerization, to docetaxel and trastuzumab (Herceptin).

The addition of pertuzumab helped delay tumor progression. The pertuzumab arm experienced a median progression-free survival (PFS) of 18.5 months, compared to 12.4 months in the placebo group. Perez adds the increase in PFS did not entail any additional adverse events and potentially resulted in an overall survival (OS) benefit. She remarks the OS benefit will require further study in order to determine if this is indeed the case.

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