Trial sparks hope for cancer patients
Results of tests on Monarche show improved survival rates
Anew drug trial run by the Hamilton-based Breast Cancer Research Trust sparks hope for diseasefree survival for breast cancer patients.
The trial (named Monarche) used the anti-tumour drug abemaciclib in combination with endocrine therapy and showed a survival rate of 85.8 per cent after four years — compared to a survival rate of 79.4 per cent with endocrine therapy alone.
The results also showed that adding abemaciclib significantly reduced the likelihood of high-risk breast cancer returning and becoming more advanced.
Breast Cancer Research Trust spokeswoman and senior research nurse Jenni Scarlet co-ordinated the trial and says the results are significant.
“Ten women in New Zealand are diagnosed with breast cancer every day. These results offer hope to thousands of women locally and worldwide with breast cancer,” Scarlet says.
“Working with breast cancer patients, I don’t always have good news to share. But, these results are a hope-filled light that the future outcomes for breast cancer survivors continue to grow brighter.”
Nearly 5640 patients from 38 countries participated in the fouryear trial. They have all now completed their study treatment, but further follow-up is needed to see whether survival rates can be further improved.
Scarlet says: “Research is the best weapon we have to fight breast cancer. Results like these equal more time that these women can spend with loved ones, and for the participants, I have spoken to, this means the world.”
One of the trial participants was Rotorua-based nurse Kathy who was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in 2017.
“I had no idea because I felt fine . . . I didn’t really believe that it was real,” Kathy says.
After a mastectomy, chemotherapy and five weeks of radiotherapy, the registrar at her oncology clinic told her about the Monarche trial.
“After I had completed all of my treatments, I almost felt like I was finished. I was incredibly drained and wasn’t sure I had it in me to go ahead with a trial.”
Then, her focus shifted.
“I realised this opportunity could help me and other women with this terrible disease,” Kathy says.
Kathy and other trial participants will continue to be tested once every six months over the next 10 years to monitor the drug’s effectiveness over an extended period.
The Monarche study aimed to find out whether the combination of abemaciclib plus standard adjuvant endocrine therapy improved outcomes in participants with hormone receptor-positive, Her2-negative, high-risk early breast cancer.
New Zealand centres for this trial were in Auckland City, Waikato and Palmerston North hospitals.
To learn more about the results of the Monarche trial and the work of the Breast Cancer Research Trust visit breastcancerresearch.org.nz.