Unmet needs in triple-negative breast cancer treatment
Women with advanced triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) often have limited treatment options, primarily chemotherapy. The good news is that there are effective novel therapies that could benefit patients with this aggressive and difficult to treat cancer.
Dr. Christina G. Galvez, consultant medical oncologist at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) and past president of the Philippine Breast Cancer
Society (PBCS), spoke on “Targeting the Unmet Needs in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer” during the 10th Breast Cancer Symposium held recently at the Makati Diamond Residences.
Themed “Harnessing Advances in Treatment and Technology to Improve Outcomes,” the symposium was organized by the PBCS, a multi-disciplinary network of medical professionals, support groups and advocates committed to work together for the benefit of the breast cancer community in the Philippines.
Breast cancer cell growth is triggered by any of these three factors: estrogen, progesterone or human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2). If not set off by any of these factors, this particular form of breast cancer is known as triple-negative breast cancer. TNBC represents approximately 15 percent of all breast cancers and is more common in women under the age of 50 compared with other forms of breast cancer.
“Women with metastatic TNBC have higher recurrence rates and generally experience rapid progression with shorter average overall survival of only nine to 12 months compared to other subtypes of breast cancer,” Dr. Galvez said.
There is currently no national registry and there is limited local data on TNBC, which is another unmet need in this disease area.
TNBC does not respond to hormonal therapies, which have helped improve survival rates for women with other forms of breast cancer. While TNBC responds to chemotherapy, cancer cells can develop resistance to chemotherapy drugs. Chemotherapy can also be very difficult on the patient as it kills off healthy cells along with cancer cells, resulting in various side effects that range from mild to serious.
“PD-L1 and other actionable biomarkers identify patients who are likely to benefit from new treatment options. Therefore, biomarker testing such as PD-L1 should be a standard test upon diagnosis of metastatic TNBC to enable patients to benefit from immunotherapy,” stressed Dr. Galvez.
“Treatment of metastatic TNBC is moving beyond chemotherapy with the emergence of immunotherapy, a class of treatment that takes advantage of a person’s own immune system to help kill cancer cells,” said Dr. Galvez.
“Roche has been advancing breast cancer research and development for more than 30 years with the goal of helping as many people with the disease as possible,” according to Dr. Diana M. Edralin, country medical director, Roche (Philippines), Inc.
“Cancer immunotherapy has the potential to be used as a foundational combination partner with other immunotherapies, targeted medicines and various chemotherapies across a broad range of cancers.
Its development is based on our greater understanding of how the immune system interacts with tumors and how harnessing a person’s immune system combats cancer more effectively.”
If you are experiencing any symptoms, consult with a doctor for proper diagnosis and management.