Palbociclib treatment in patients with HR+/HER2- advanced or metastatic breast cancer and visceral metastasis: A systematic literature review.

BACKGROUND

Visceral metastasis is prevalent among patients with advanced/metastatic breast cancer (ABC) and is a prognostic indicator of poor survival. We conducted a systematic literature review of the evidence for palbociclib plus endocrine therapy (ET) in patients with hormone receptor-positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HR+/HER2-) ABC and visceral metastasis.

METHODS

PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and relevant conference proceedings were searched through September 2023. Phase 2/3 randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and real-world evidence (RWE) studies evaluating efficacy/effectiveness, safety, and health-related quality-of-life (QoL) of palbociclib plus ET were included.

RESULTS

Qualitative synthesis was conducted on 70 articles; 24 reported results from 8 RCTs; 46 were RWE studies. Data from >10,000 patients with visceral metastasis treated with palbociclib were included. All RCTs and RWE studies (5 each) that assessed palbociclib plus ET versus ET alone in patients with HR+/HER2- ABC and visceral metastasis showed significant reduction in risk of disease progression and/or death with palbociclib plus ET (34 %-50 % reduction in RCTs; 31 %-47 % in RWE studies). In RCTs, overall survival was not significantly different between the treatment groups; however, 4 of 5 RWE studies showed a significant benefit (36 %-42 % reduced risk of death) with palbociclib plus ET. Although data for other outcomes were limited, palbociclib plus ET was generally safe and well tolerated while QoL was maintained.

CONCLUSION

Both RCTs and RWE studies consistently showed that palbociclib plus ET is efficacious/effective in patients with HR+/HER2- ABC and visceral metastasis; further research is warranted focused on safety, tolerability, and QoL in this patient group.