Palbociclib, Capecitabine Regimens Offer Similar Patient-Reported Quality-of-Life Outcomes in Metastatic HR-Positive Breast Cancer

The following article features coverage from the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2019 meeting. Click here to read more of Cancer Therapy Advisor‘s conference coverage.

Among women with hormone receptor (HR)-positive metastatic breast cancer, patient-reported outcomes (PROs) for quality of life (QoL) were similar among patients receiving capecitabine and those administered the cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK) 4/6 inhibitor palbociclib plus exemestane with GnRH agonist, according to findings from the Korea Cancer Study Group phase 2 YoungPearl study (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02592746). The results were presented at the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2019 in Spain.¹ 

The findings “show that palbociclib plus endocrine therapy maintained high PRO [QoL] scores,” reported authors of the study, from the Korea University Anam Hospital in Seoul, Korea. 

Compared with capecitabine, palbociclib plus exemestane with GnRH agonist has, in the authors’ previous research, demonstrated significant progression-free survival (PFS) benefits for premenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer.²

A total of 189 patients were enrolled and randomly assigned to receive either palbociclib plus exemestane with GnRH agonist or capecitabine. The new QoL outcomes analysis was based on PRO assessments undertaken at baseline (day 1) and every 6 weeks during treatment to 84 weeks, and again at the end of treatment, using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QoL Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-30). 

Scores numerically favored palbociclib for physical function and capecitabine for emotional and social functioning scores but none of the differences reached statistical significance.

Disclosure: The study was funded by Pfizer. For a full list of disclosures, please refer to the abstract.

Read more of Cancer Therapy Advisor‘s coverage of the ESMO annual meeting by visiting the conference page.

References

1. Lee S, Park YH, Im SA, et al. Patient-reported outcomes of palbociclib plus exemestane with GnRH agonist versus capecitabine in premenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer from the YoungPearl phase II trial (KCSG-BR 15-10, NCT02592746. Presented at: European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2019; September 27-October 1, 2019: Barcelona, Spain. Abstract LBA24.
2. Park YH, Kim TY, Kim GM, et al. A randomized phase II study of palbociclib plus exemestane with GNRH agonist versus capecitabine in premenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer (KCSG-BR 15-10, NCT02592746). J Clin Oncol.. 2019;37(15 Suppl.):1007.