Dr. Andre on the Impact of the SOLAR-1 Findings in Breast Cancer

Fabrice André, MD, PhD, professor, Department of Medical Oncology, Institut Gustave Roussy, discusses the impact of the SOLAR-1 findings in breast cancer at the 2018 ESMO Congress.

In the SOLAR-1 study, patients with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer were randomized to the oral PI3K inhibitor alpelisib or placebo plus intramuscular fulvestrant (Faslodex). Findings showed that the addition of alpelisib to fulvestrant nearly doubled median progression-free survival (PFS) compared with the endocrine therapy alone in patients who had a PIK3CA mutation.

In the PIK3CA population, the median PFS by local assessment was 11.0 months (95% CI, 7.5-14.5) for those who received the alpelisib combination compared with 5.7 months (95% CI, 3.7-7.4) for those who received placebo plus fulvestrant.

Not only could these findings affect a significant proportion of patients with breast cancer, but they can also be practice changing. These are also the first study findings to show a benefit in a genomic subgroup of patients with breast cancer, Andre says.