Zhongyu Yuan, Jia-Jia Huang, Xin Hua, Jian-Li Zhao, Ying Lin, Yuan-Qi Zhang, Zhiyong Wu, Lehong Zhang, XiWen Bi, Wen Xia, Yong-yi Zhong, Shu-Sen Wang, Fei Xu, Ruoxi Hong, Kuikui Jiang, Yanxia Shi, Cong Xue, Xin An; Department of Medical Oncology, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China; Department of Medical Oncology, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center; State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China; Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China; SunYat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China; Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Guangzhou, China; Departments of Breast Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China; Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, Guangzhou, China

Background: For metastatic breast cancer with hormone receptor-positive and HER2-positive, no evidence showed that which first-line regimens were preferred, either anti-HER2 therapy plus endocrine therapy or anti-HER2 therapy plus chemotherapy. This study aimed to determine whether trastuzumab plus endocrine therapy is as efficacious as trastuzumab plus chemotherapy and with decreased toxic effects.

Methods: We conducted an open-label, non-inferiority, phase 3, randomized, controlled trial at nine hospitals in China. Patients with hormone receptor-positive and HER2-positive histologically confirmed advanced breast cancer were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive trastuzumab plus chemotherapy (CT group) or endocrine therapy (ET group). The primary endpoint was progression-free survival with a non-inferiority upper margin of 1.35 for the hazard ratio (HR). This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01950182.

Results: Between Sep 16, 2013, and Dec 28, 2019, 392 patients were enrolled and randomly assigned to receive trastuzumab plus endocrine therapy (n = 196) or trastuzumab plus chemotherapy (n = 196). In the intention-to-treat population, the median PFS was 14.8 months (95% CI 12.8-16.8) in the CT group and 19.2 months (95% CI 16.7-21.7) in the ET group (HR 0.88, 95% CI 0.71-1.09; Pnon-inferiority < 0.0001). Significantly higher frequency of toxicities were observed in CT group compared with ET group, including: leucopenia (98 [50%] vs 13 [6.6%]), nausea (93 [47%] vs 24 [12%]), fatigue (47 [24%] vs 31 [16%]), vomiting (45 [23%] vs 12 [6%]), headache (65 [33%] vs 24 [12%]) and alopecia (125 [64%] vs 8 [4%]). No patients died from treatment-related causes.

Conclusions:Trastuzumab plus endocrine therapy was non-inferior to and had decreased toxicities to trastuzumab plus chemotherapy in patients with metastatic breast cancer with hormone receptor-positive and HER2-positive. Trastuzumab plus endocrine therapy could provide more convenient treatment and allow better treatment tolerance.

Clinical trial information: NCT01950182. Research Sponsor: None