Key clinical point: Addition of atezolizumab to carboplatin+paclitaxel in the neoadjuvant setting improved the pathological complete response (pCR) rate in patients with stage II-III triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).
Major finding: After a median follow-up of 6.6 months, a significantly higher proportion of patients achieved pCR in the atezolizumab+chemotherapy vs chemotherapy-only group (55.6% vs 18.8%; P = .018). However, the increase in the percentage of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes was nominal and not significantly different between both groups (P = .36). Grade ≥3 treatment-related adverse events were reported by 62.5% vs 57.8% of patients in the only chemotherapy vs atezolizumab+chemotherapy group, respectively.
Study details: Findings are from the phase 2 NCI-10013 study including 67 patients with previously untreated stage II and III TNBC who were randomly assigned to receive neoadjuvant carboplatin+paclitaxel with or without atezolizumab.
Disclosures: This study was supported by the US National Cancer Institute Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program. Some authors declared receiving research grants or having other financial or non-financial ties with several sources.
Source: Ademuyiwa FO et al. A randomized phase 2 study of neoadjuvant carboplatin and paclitaxel with or without atezolizumab in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) - NCI 10013. NPJ Breast Cancer. 2022;8(1):134 (Dec 30). Doi: 10.1038/s41523-022-00500-3