Dr. Joyce O'Shaughnessy on Promising Agents in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Joyce O'Shaughnessy, MD, co-chair, breast cancer research, chair breast cancer at Baylor University Medical Center, discusses what’s on the horizon in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).

Checkpoint inhibitors, such as an anti-PD-1 agents, show a lot of promise in TNBC, said O’Shaughnessy. There are several studies investigating the use of checkpoint inhibitors with platinum agents and the preliminary data looks very good, she said.

PARP inhibitors are also being investigated in the preoperative setting in TNBC. Veliparib (ABT-888) plus carboplatin is being looked at in TNBC in the Brightness trial. This is an important approach, said Shaughnessy. Four other PARP inhibitors are being investigated in the metastatic setting for BRACA1 and BRAC2 germline mutant TNBC. If results are positive, other TNBC subtypes will soon be investigated with PARP inhibitors.

There a number of strategies underway to try to sensitize TNBC to PARP inhibitors or to platinum-based regimens. Other novel agents, such as antibody drug conjugates, are also being explored in TNBC.