Dr. Rao on Abemaciclib Post-Palbociclib in Metastatic Breast Cancer

Ruta Rao, MD, associate professor of medical oncology, Rush University Medical Center, discusses the use of abemaciclib (Verzenio) with or without fulvestrant (Faslodex) for the treatment of patients with hormone receptor—positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer following prior treatment with palbociclib (Ibrance).

Researchers evaluated whether using a different CDK 4/6 inhibitor after an initial one would be beneficial. There were 21 female patients, with a mean age of 57.8 years. About 19% of patients saw stable disease while 62% had progressive disease. The clinical benefit rate (CBR) was 29% and all patients had received abemaciclib monotherapy.

This study shows that abemaciclib has limited activity as a single agent in patients previously treated with palbociclib. Although the response rate in this trial was relatively low, researchers gained some understanding of how to identify patients who might respond well to this type of treatment, according to Rao.