Dr. Sledge on Impact of CDK 4/6 Agents in Breast Cancer

George W. Sledge Jr., MD, professor of Medicine, Chief of the Division of Oncology, Stanford University Medical Center, discusses the use of cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 agents in the treatment of patients with breast cancer.

These agents have largely been studied in patients with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive metastatic breast cancer. Palbociclib (Ibrance) is FDA approved for treatment in combination with anastrozole (Arimidex) in the first-line setting, and it is also approved in the second-line setting with fulvestrant (Faslodex). Both of these respective combination treatments have shown improvement in progression-free survival.

As for new agents, ribociclib emerged in 2016 and is showing positive results in the phase III metastatic setting, and abemaciclib is currently being tested in phase III trials, as well.

Overall, this class of drugs has been extremely exciting in the frontline setting for ER-positive metastatic breast cancer. According to Sledge, the hope is to bring these drugs into the adjuvant setting to see if they have an impact on patients with early-stage breast cancer.