Dr. Yardley on the Role of Biosimilars in Breast Cancer

Denise A. Yardley, MD, senior investigator of breast cancer research, Sarah Cannon Research Institute, discusses the role of biosimilars in the treatment of patients with breast cancer.

In the wake of the results from the LILAC study that was presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting, many experts are questioning the potential role of biosimilars in the treatment of breast cancer. The phase III trial showed an equivalent pathologic complete response rate between trastuzumab (Herceptin) and the biosimilar ABP 980. Although there has already been an approval for 1 trastuzumab biosimilar, MYL-1401O (Ogivri; trastuzumab-dkst), biosimilars have yet to been used in the clinic for the treatment of patients with cancer.

Yardley says that biosimilars are a moving target. Clinicians are still trying to figure out how biosimilars will fit into practice. There have been multiple studies on trastuzumab biosimilars in particular, but clinicians still widely prefer the originator drug to the idea of a biosimilar, Yardley says.