Lenvatinib+Letrozole Versus Fulvestrant in Metastatic ER+/HER2- Breast Cancer, Post Progression on Al + CDK4/6 Inhibitor

Summary

Based on the results of the phase Ib/II study, the investigators hypothesize that combining a RET inhibitor lenvatinib with endocrine therapy letrozole improves objective response and progression-free survival compared to fulvestrant alone in the second line setting in patients who have progressed on first line endocrine therapy incorporating a CDK4/6 inhibitor. Letrozole and fulvestrant are anti-hormonal drugs that have been proven to have activity and are considered standard therapies for hormone receptor positive breast cancer. The purpose of this study is to determine if the combination therapy of letrozole (an anti-hormonal drug) and lenvatinib (a targeted therapy), when compared to another anti-hormonal drug fulvestrant, is effective in patients with hormone receptor positive breast cancer. Preliminary studies have shown that approximately 50-60% of hormone receptor positive breast cancers over-express RET, and may therefore respond to treatment by a drug that blocks the RET pathway. An earlier study conducted at the National University Cancer Institute, Singapore (NCIS) on the combination of letrozole and Lenvatinib has shown promising results. Among patients in whom hormonal therapy and a CDK4/6 inhibitor no longer worked, about one-quarter of patients had meaningful disease control. The study also showed that patients tolerated the combination of Lenvatinib and letrozole well with manageable side effects. Based on the promising findings from the earlier study, this study seeks to compare the effectiveness of lenvatinib plus letrozole with another standard anti-hormone treatment drug called fulvestrant. In addition, investigators are studying how body reacts to the treatment as well as studying gene and protein changes in the tumour in response to treatment, which may in the future, help us tailor drug treatment for individual patients according to the patient's and/or the tumour's genetic or protein make-up.

Timeline

Start

2021-12-27

Primary completion

2027-08

Completion

2027-08

Publications

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• Background Finn RS, Martin M, Rugo HS, Jones S, Im SA, Gelmon K, Harbeck N, Lipatov ON, Walshe JM, Moulder S, Gauthier E, Lu DR, Randolph S, Dieras V, Slamon DJ. Palbociclib and Letrozole in Advanced Breast Cancer. N Engl J Med. 2016 Nov 17;375(20):1925-1936. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1607303.
• Background Tripathy D, Im SA, Colleoni M, Franke F, Bardia A, Harbeck N, Hurvitz SA, Chow L, Sohn J, Lee KS, Campos-Gomez S, Villanueva Vazquez R, Jung KH, Babu KG, Wheatley-Price P, De Laurentiis M, Im YH, Kuemmel S, El-Saghir N, Liu MC, Carlson G, Hughes G, Diaz-Padilla I, Germa C, Hirawat S, Lu YS. Ribociclib plus endocrine therapy for premenopausal women with hormone-receptor-positive, advanced breast cancer (MONALEESA-7): a randomised phase 3 trial. Lancet Oncol. 2018 Jul;19(7):904-915. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(18)30292-4. Epub 2018 May 24.
• Background Goetz MP, Toi M, Campone M, Sohn J, Paluch-Shimon S, Huober J, Park IH, Tredan O, Chen SC, Manso L, Freedman OC, Garnica Jaliffe G, Forrester T, Frenzel M, Barriga S, Smith IC, Bourayou N, Di Leo A. MONARCH 3: Abemaciclib As Initial Therapy for Advanced Breast Cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2017 Nov 10;35(32):3638-3646. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2017.75.6155. Epub 2017 Oct 2.
• Background Li J, Huo X, Zhao F, Ren D, Ahmad R, Yuan X, Du F, Zhao J. Association of Cyclin-Dependent Kinases 4 and 6 Inhibitors With Survival in Patients With Hormone Receptor-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Netw Open. 2020 Oct 1;3(10):e2020312. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.20312.
• Background Jones RH, Casbard A, Carucci M, Cox C, Butler R, Alchami F, Madden TA, Bale C, Bezecny P, Joffe J, Moon S, Twelves C, Venkitaraman R, Waters S, Foxley A, Howell SJ. Fulvestrant plus capivasertib versus placebo after relapse or progression on an aromatase inhibitor in metastatic, oestrogen receptor-positive breast cancer (FAKTION): a multicentre, randomised, controlled, phase 2 trial. Lancet Oncol. 2020 Mar;21(3):345-357. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(19)30817-4. Epub 2020 Feb 5.
• Background Dent S, Cortes J, Im YH, Dieras V, Harbeck N, Krop IE, Wilson TR, Cui N, Schimmoller F, Hsu JY, He J, De Laurentiis M, Sousa S, Drullinsky P, Jacot W. Phase III randomized study of taselisib or placebo with fulvestrant in estrogen receptor-positive, PIK3CA-mutant, HER2-negative, advanced breast cancer: the SANDPIPER trial. Ann Oncol. 2021 Feb;32(2):197-207. doi: 10.1016/j.annonc.2020.10.596. Epub 2020 Nov 10.
• Background Baselga J, Im SA, Iwata H, Cortes J, De Laurentiis M, Jiang Z, Arteaga CL, Jonat W, Clemons M, Ito Y, Awada A, Chia S, Jagiello-Gruszfeld A, Pistilli B, Tseng LM, Hurvitz S, Masuda N, Takahashi M, Vuylsteke P, Hachemi S, Dharan B, Di Tomaso E, Urban P, Massacesi C, Campone M. Buparlisib plus fulvestrant versus placebo plus fulvestrant in postmenopausal, hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative, advanced breast cancer (BELLE-2): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial. Lancet Oncol. 2017 Jul;18(7):904-916. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(17)30376-5. Epub 2017 May 30.
• Background Andre F, Ciruelos E, Rubovszky G, Campone M, Loibl S, Rugo HS, Iwata H, Conte P, Mayer IA, Kaufman B, Yamashita T, Lu YS, Inoue K, Takahashi M, Papai Z, Longin AS, Mills D, Wilke C, Hirawat S, Juric D; SOLAR-1 Study Group. Alpelisib for PIK3CA-Mutated, Hormone Receptor-Positive Advanced Breast Cancer. N Engl J Med. 2019 May 16;380(20):1929-1940. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1813904.
• Background Boulay A, Breuleux M, Stephan C, Fux C, Brisken C, Fiche M, Wartmann M, Stumm M, Lane HA, Hynes NE. The Ret receptor tyrosine kinase pathway functionally interacts with the ERalpha pathway in breast cancer. Cancer Res. 2008 May 15;68(10):3743-51. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-07-5100.
• Background Plaza-Menacho I, Morandi A, Robertson D, Pancholi S, Drury S, Dowsett M, Martin LA, Isacke CM. Targeting the receptor tyrosine kinase RET sensitizes breast cancer cells to tamoxifen treatment and reveals a role for RET in endocrine resistance. Oncogene. 2010 Aug 19;29(33):4648-57. doi: 10.1038/onc.2010.209. Epub 2010 Jun 7.
• Background Morandi A, Martin LA, Gao Q, Pancholi S, Mackay A, Robertson D, Zvelebil M, Dowsett M, Plaza-Menacho I, Isacke CM. GDNF-RET signaling in ER-positive breast cancers is a key determinant of response and resistance to aromatase inhibitors. Cancer Res. 2013 Jun 15;73(12):3783-95. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-12-4265. Epub 2013 May 6.
• Background Spanheimer PM, Cyr AR, Gillum MP, Woodfield GW, Askeland RW, Weigel RJ. Distinct pathways regulated by RET and estrogen receptor in luminal breast cancer demonstrate the biological basis for combination therapy. Ann Surg. 2014 Apr;259(4):793-9. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0b013e3182a6f552.
• Background Spanheimer PM, Park JM, Askeland RW, Kulak MV, Woodfield GW, De Andrade JP, Cyr AR, Sugg SL, Thomas A, Weigel RJ. Inhibition of RET increases the efficacy of antiestrogen and is a novel treatment strategy for luminal breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2014 Apr 15;20(8):2115-25. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-13-2221. Epub 2014 Feb 13.

Drugs

Indications