Dr. Slamon on the Benefit of Ribociclib Plus Fulvestrant in HR+/HER2- Advanced Breast Cancer

Dennis J. Slamon, MD, PhD, director of the Revlon/UCLA Women's Cancer Research Program at Johnson Comprehensive Cancer Center; a professor of medicine; chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology; executive vice chair of research in the Department of Medicine; and director of clinical/translational research at The University of California, Los Angeles, discusses the long-term benefit of ribociclib (Kisqali) plus fulvestrant (Faslodex) in patients with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer.

The combination was examined in the phase 3 MONALEESA-3 trial (NCT02422615), which enrolled and randomized 726 patients 2:1 to receive either ribociclib plus fulvestrant, or placebo plus fulvestrant, according to Slamon.

The landmark analysis indicated that the predicted 4 year overall survival rate would be 44.5% in the control arm vs 53.6% in the experimental arm. The predicted difference only increases at 5 years, with 31.1% in the control arm, and 46.0% in the experimental arm. The data have been consistent with longer follow up and patients have been significantly benefitting from the combination of ribociclib and fulvestrant, Slamon concludes.