The Future of Palbociclib for the Treatment of Breast Cancer

Richard Finn, MD, Division of Hematology/Oncology at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, Los Angeles, comments on the future of palbociclib (PD 0332991), a novel oral selective inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 (CDK 4/6), for the treatment of breast cancer.

Currently, palbociclib is the lead indication in patients with ER-positive breast cancer, Finn says, and could become a practice-changing agent.

If the magnitude of progression-free survival benefit seen in the phase II study of this agent is seen in the phase III study, palbociclib will become the standard of care for first-line ER-positive disease, Finn notes. Palbociclib is well-tolerated, as is any anti-endocrine therapy.

Clinical Pearls

If the efficacy of palbociclib can be improved without a significant increase in toxicity, the door for palbociclib would be open to other settings, Finn says. Palbociclib could be evaluated in other lines of therapy and other subtypes of breast cancer. The ultimate objective, Finn says, is to get palbociclib to early-stage disease.

• Finn believes palbociclib will be a practice-changing agent for the treatment of ER-positive breast cancer
• Palbociclib demonstrated benefit to progression-free survival in this population compared with letrozole
• In the future, palbociclib could move to other lines of therapy and subtypes of breast cancer

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