Ribociclib in combination with endocrine therapy is usually reserved for women after menopause. The researchers examined whether it can also help women before menopause.
Between 20-50% of all breast cancer worldwide are diagnosed in women under the age of 50. Doctors have prescribed various drugs and various endocrine therapy protocols for breast cancer patients before menopause compared to breast cancer patients after menopause. Researchers recently questioned this way of thinking.
Patients can have different types of breast cancer. Patients with positive breast cancer with estrogen receptors often continue to occur daily medication after the treatment has ended. The purpose of this is to influence the estrogen of the sex hormone. Members of the health professions refer to this as endocrine therapy.
For the first time, an international group of researchers examined whether medication and endocrine therapies that were awarded to women after menopause can help women before menopause. The researchers recently published their results in The Lancet.
Ribociclib stops the normal processes of cancer cells
The new drug for women before menopause is called Ribociclib. It stops some of the normal processes of the cancer cell. The researchers combined this medicine with the usual endocrine therapy treatments that are given for women before menopause and according to the menopauses.
A total of 672 patients were included in the clinical study. All of them were pre -menopausal patients with advanced breast cancer. The patients were randomly installed in one of two treatment groups. A group received a RibociCLIB and endocrine therapy. The other group received a placebo and endocrine therapy. A placebo is a pill that has no treatment effect. Researchers give placebo pills so that the patients do not know in which treatment group they are in.
The patients continued to accept their treatments until one of the following orders occurred: their breast cancer grew worse that they got sick; You or your doctor decided to stop it for other reasons.
The doctors monitored whether breast cancer grew with a CT scan or an MRI. The patients had the CT or MRI every eight weeks in the first 18 months. After that time they had it every year. The patients ended the CT or the MRI if breast cancer deteriorated or decided to stop.
The researchers followed the patient on average 19 months. They learned how long the patients took without deteriorating breast cancer. The patients who received RibociLib took an average of 23.8 months. However, the patients who received the placebo took an average of 13 months.
Patients who received riboclib had lower white blood cells, the patients who did not do this. This affects your ability to combat infections. However, the doctors were able to manage these complications by adapting the patient’s RibociLib dose.
Ribociclib with any kind of endocrine therapy is helpful for breast cancer patients before menopause
The researchers made two important conclusions from the study. The first is that the RibociCLIB with any kind of endocrine therapy is helpful to stop breast cancer progress in premenopausal patients. The second is that these results show for the first time how helpful endocrine therapy on the front in the fight against advanced breast cancer in women before menopause.
Written by Nicola Cribb, VetMB DVSC DIP.ACVS
References:
(1) Romero D. Extension of Ribociclib Use. Night Tore Clinoncol. 2018: 1. DOI: 10.1038/S41571-018-0051-X.
(2) Tripathy D, im Sat, Colleoni M, et al. Ribociclib plus endocrine therapy in women before menopause with hormone receptor-positive, advanced breast cancer (Monaleesa-7): a randomized phase 3 study. Lancet Oncol. 2018. Two: 10.1016/S1470-2045 (18) 30292-4.