Department of Medical Oncology, Dr. B.R.A. Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
Rakesh Kumar Sharma , Ajay Gogia , Hari Krishna Raju Sagiraju , S V Suryanarayana Deo , Dayanand Sharma , Sandeep Mathur
Background: Capecitabine maintenance has demonstrated a survival benefit in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients not achieving pathological complete response (pCR) following neo-adjuvant chemotherapy (NACT). However, there is scarcity of data from Indian sub-continent corroborating the benefit of capecitabine maintenance. Methods: This retrospective study comprised of 161 TNBC patients registered at our institute between a period of May 2013 to Dec 2020, who received NACT (sequential anthracycline and taxane) but did not achieve pCR. Capecitabine was added to the institutional protocol since 2017 for maintenance therapy of TNBC patients who didn’t achieve pCR post NACT. Using Kaplan-Meir survival analysis and multivariate cox-proportional hazard models, we analysed differences in the relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) among those who received capecitabine maintenance therapy (n=80) versus those who did not receive it (n=81). Results: Distribution of age, family history, baseline performance score, tumor size, node positivity and clinical stage at time of presentation were comparable between the study groups, except for menopausal status (50% in control vs 33% in capecitabine group). Median(IQR) follow up time was 22.2 (16.2-27.4) months in capecitabine groups vs 19.3 (11.7-35.1) in control group. Twenty-three (28.8%) women in the capecitabine group had a disease-relapse while 45.7% (n=37) had relapsed in control group (p=0.026). Median RFS was 20.4 (17.8-25.9) months in control group while it was not reached in capecitabine group (log rank p=0.007). Adjusted for other baseline clinical characteristics, hazard of disease-relapse was significantly lower in the capecitabine group compared to controls [adjusted Hazard Ratio (aHR), 95% CI: 0.57 (0.34-0.96), p=0.035]. Median OS was not achieved in both the study groups, however, the hazard of death was lower in capecitabine group compared to control [aHR(95%CI): 0.44 (0.20-1.01), p-0.053]. Stratified by menopausal status, effect of capecitabine maintenance on disease relapse and RFS was only significant among the post-menopausal women [aHR (95%CI): 0.24 (0.10-0.59)]. Conclusions: This is the first study from our country, demonstrating a survival benefit with capecitabine maintenance in patients with TNBC not achieving pCR following NACT, particularly in post-menopausal women. It is an important observation as most of our patients present with locally advanced disease where pCR rate is low.
Disclaimer
This material on this page is ©2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology, all rights reserved. Licensing available upon request. For more information, please contact licensing@asco.org
Abstract Disclosures
2022 ASCO Annual Meeting
First Author: Rakesh Kumar Sharma
2021 ASCO Annual Meeting
First Author: Rakesh Kumar Sharma
2022 ASCO Annual Meeting
First Author: Terrence Jones
2023 ASCO Annual Meeting
First Author: Sheyda Abdullaeva