A study has shown that Kisqali, an anti-cancer drug from Novartis that targets cancer, can reduce the recurrence rate by 25% when used in breast cancer patients after surgery.
Novartis announced the results of a phase 3 clinical trial of Kisqali, an advanced treatment for breast cancer, at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO 2023) held in Chicago on the 2nd of this month (local time).
Kisqali is a targeted anti-cancer drug developed by Novartis of Switzerland. It was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2017 as an oral cancer drug to treat advanced breast cancer. Advanced breast cancer refers to breast cancer that has recurred, metastasized, or is not curable after treatment.
The Novartis research team confirmed the effectiveness of Kisqali in breast cancer patients who were estrogen receptor (ER) positive and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) negative. It accounts for 70% of all breast cancer patients and is classified as relatively mild breast cancer.
Breast cancer patients receive hormone therapy to prevent recurrence after radiation therapy or tumor resection. However, even with hormone therapy, one third of patients in stage 2 and more than half of those in stage 3 are known to have a recurrence. When breast cancer returns, it becomes metastatic or resistant to treatment.
To confirm the recurrence prevention effect of Kisqali, the research team evaluated the risk of breast cancer recurrence for 3 years when hormone therapy and Kisqali were prescribed together for breast cancer patients. As a result of the evaluation, cancer recurred in 12.9% of patients who received hormone therapy alone, but only 9.6% of patients who were prescribed hormone therapy and Kisqali together.
Overall, the researchers analyzed that giving Kisqali in combination with hormone therapy reduced the risk of breast cancer recurrence by 25%.
Dennis Slamon, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, who led the clinical trial, said, “Using Kisqali and hormone therapy together will reduce the risk of cancer recurrence and increase the survival rate of early breast cancer patients .”
