Dr. Litton on the Safety of Neoadjuvant Talazoparib in HER2-Negative Breast Cancer

Jennifer Litton, MD, faculty, University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and vice president of clinical research, Department of Chief Scientific Office, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the safety of talazoparib (Talzenna) in the neoadjuvant treatment of patients with germline BRCA1/2-positive, early-stage HER2-negative breast cancer.

A phase 2 study (NCT03499353) evaluated the efficacy of neoadjuvant talazoparib in this patient population and showed that the toxicities observed with the agent in the early-stage setting were similar to those reported with the agent in the metastatic setting, according to Litton. The key difference was that a slightly higher rate of grade 1 or 2 alopecia was reported in the phase 3 EMBRACA trial (NCT01945775), Litton says. These results suggest that talazoparib has efficacy as a single agent in patients with a germline BRCA mutation, Litton adds.

For patients with a BRCA mutation who have previously received treatment with an anthracycline or taxane and experience a recurrence, it is not ideal to give these chemotherapies again, according to Litton, who adds that other therapeutic options to avoid adverse effects like cardiotoxicity are needed. To this end, talazoparib is a potential option that should be further studied as a treatment option for this population, Litton concludes.