PD-L1 Biomarker for Immunotherapy

bctt on September 4, 2020

To qualify for Tecentriq®-based immunotherapy, the cancer must test positive for the PD-L1 protein. Learn what researchers have found about PD-L1 and other biomarkers to identify patients suited for immunotherapy.

Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Update

bctt on January 3, 2020

For women and men with triple-negative breast cancer, chemotherapy has been the primary treatment option. But as scientists learn more about subtypes of triple-negative breast cancer, clinical trials can better match new targeted therapies with specific triple-negative patients. These advances are what led to the FDA approval in March 2019 of the PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab (Tecentriq®) to treat women and men with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer whose tumors test positive for PD-L1. And we can expect to see more trials that target specific subtypes of triple-negative cancer in the future.

What is a Tumor Agnostic Therapy?

bctt on November 1, 2019

In May 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first tumor/tissue agnostic therapy. These drugs are approved for use for any tumor that has a specific mutation, regardless of where the tumor started. Since then, two more tumor/tissue agnostic therapies have been approved. The drugs that have been approved are:

 Pembrolizumab (Keytruda®), for metastatic cancers that have microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) or DNA mismatch repair deficiency (dMMR). It is rare in breast cancer.
Larotrectinib (Vitrakvi®) and Entrectinib (Rozlytrek®), for metastatic cancers that have certain NTRK gene mutations. These mutations are found in about 2% of breast cancers.

Although these mutations aren’t common in breast cancer, more tumor/tissue agnostic therapies are in clinical trials which could potentially expand breast cancer treatment options.

Below you can learn more about the drugs that have been approved and how these tumor/tissue agnostic therapies are pushing the field of precision medicine forward. These drugs are often studied in basket trials, which enroll patients with many different types of cancer that all share a common mutation. You can read more about basket trials from BreastCancerTrials.org: All Open Basket Trials

Overview of Tumor Agnostic Therapy:

Tumor Agnostic Therapies:

New Guideline Includes Immunotherapy

bctt on September 3, 2019

In March, the immunotherapy Tecentriq® (atezolizumab) became the first to be included in NCCN Treatment Guidelines for metastatic breast cancer. It can be used along with Abraxane® (nab-paclitaxel) to treat patients with locally advanced or metastatic triple negative breast cancer who have a tumor that tests positive for PD-L1.

Immunotherapy is a type of biological therapy that uses the body’s immune system to fight cancer. There are many new types of immunotherapies being developed and researchers are actively studying which ones might work in patients with breast cancer.

Below you will find relevant information about MBC treatment guidelines as well as research news and clinical trials on immunotherapy for metastatic breast cancer.

First Immunotherapy Approved for MBC

bctt on April 1, 2019

Immunotherapies use the body’s immune system to fight cancer. In March, for the first time, the FDA approved an immunotherapy drug as a first-line treatment for metastatic breast cancer.

The drug, Tecentriq® (Atezolizumab), is a type of immunotherapy called a PD-L1 inhibitor. It had already been approved for other types of cancers. The new approval is for treating locally advanced or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer that tests positive for PD-L1 when given along with the chemotherapy drug Abraxane® (nab-paclitaxel). The approval is based on progression-free survival data from the ongoing randomized, phase 3 IMpassion130 study (no longer recruiting as of April 1st, 2019).

In the links below you will find more information about the study findings that led to the drug’s approval.

There is one other immunotherapy that might be an option for a small number of metastatic breast cancer patients. It is the drug Keytruda® (Pembrolizumab), which was approved in May 2017 for patients with any type of metastatic solid tumor that is microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) or has mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) and has progressed on other treatment. You can learn more about this approval here.

What is CAR-T Cell Immunotherapy?

bctt on February 4, 2019

CAR-T is a personalized immunotherapy made from a patient’s white blood cells. The blood cells are removed from the patient and then modified with chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) so they can attack specific proteins. The cells are then infused back into the patient in the hospital.

CAR-T therapy has been approved for treating certain types of blood cancers. Clinical trials are now underway to see if it will be effective in treating metastatic breast cancer. You can find the breast cancer CAR-T trials now enrolling patients below.

CAR-T Therapy: An Overview

Current CAR-T Trials:

More immunotherapy articles on breastcancertrialtalk.org/