Dr. Bardia on the Efficacy Results of the EMERALD Trial in ER+/HER2- Breast Cancer

Aditya Bardia, MD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, attending physician, Medical Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses the efficacy results of the phase 3 EMERALD trial (NCT03778931) in estrogen receptor (ER)–positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer.

The results of the EMERALD trial, which were presented during the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) with the oral selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD) elacestrant vs standard of care (SOC) endocrine therapy in patients with ER-positive, HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer. Moreover, the agent led to a 30% reduction in the risk of progression or death vs SOC in all patients evaluated and a 45% reduction in the risk of progression or death vs SOC in patients harboring ESR1 mutations.

Higher PFS rates were observed at 6 and 12 months with elacestrant vs SOC, Bardia explains.

Ultimately, these results underscore the utility of oral SERDs vs endocrine therapy in patients with endocrine-sensitive breast cancer or tumors that are dependent on the ER pathway, Bardia concludes.