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CHICAGO – In the SANDPIPER trial, the combination of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor taselisib and the selective estrogen receptor modifier fulvestrant (Faslodex) was associated with a small but significant progression-free survival (PFS) benefit, compared with fulvestrant alone in women with advanced estrogen-receptor positive, HER2-negative breast cancer.
That 2-month PFS benefit, described as “modest” by investigators, came at the cost of significant toxicities, with nearly 50% of patients treated with the combination having grade 3 or greater toxicities, compared with 16% of patients treated with fulvestrant alone.
In this video interview from the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, ASCO expert Harold Burstein, MD, PhD, from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, questions whether the PI3K pathway, shown to be targetable in hematologic malignancies, is worth continuing to pursue in breast cancer.
Dr. Burstein had no disclosures.