For women diagnosed with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, the combination of chemotherapy and an immunotherapy drug called atezolizumab (also known by its brand name, Tecentriq) can have a significant survival benefit.
“For a while, it was thought that [breast cancer] wouldn’t necessarily respond to immunotherapies,” says Dr. Elizabeth Comen of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. But now, as Dr. Comen explains, that’s changed. “We have an FDA-approved drug called atezolizumab that has been approved for first-line metastatic triple-negative breast cancer patients.”
Read More By “first-line,” Dr. Comen means patients who have not yet had any therapy for their metastatic breast cancer. The combination of atezolizumab with chemotherapy given as first-line therapy has been shown to increase overall survival time by as much as 10 months. “Ten months’ improvement in overall survival is significant — and can be truly significant for the patients who are fighting metastatic triple-negative breast cancer,” Dr. Comen says. Dr. Comen points out one thing that’s really important to keep in mind about atezolizumab, which is that the survival benefit won’t necessarily be the same for all women with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. Women who have something called a “PD-L1” marker on their breast cancer tumors are much more likely to benefit from the drug. This is why the FDA has specifically approved atezolizumab for patients with locally-advanced or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer who test positive for PD-L1. RELATED: Immunotherapy and Triple Negative Breast Cancer
Is My Cancer Really Triple-Negative?
Dr. Heather McArthur, Clinical Director of the Breast Cancer Program at Simmons Cancer Center at UT Southwestern Medical Center, has spoken with SurvivorNet on this relevant topic. You might be told you have triple-negative breast cancer, that means that your cancer is not being fueled by any of the three main types of receptors: estrogen, progesterone nor the HER2 protein. But now you could be categorized as HER2 low instead of HER2 negative. Breast cancer cells with higher-than-normal levels of HER2 are called HER2-positive, those with low levels of HER2 are (or were) called HER2 negative. Recently, however, researchers have looked to further expand this definition to include patients that have a minimal amount of HER2 expression but do not meet the classic definition for HER2-positive tumors. This group has been called HER2 "low" and is very important as it represents almost 50% of all patients with breast cancer. This excitement stems from the fact that HER2-low breast cancers are targetable with a recently new FDA-approved Enhertu (Fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki). It appears that Enhertu is extremely effective for appropriate patients and can greatly improve their quality of life and help them live longer. Therefore, it is exceedingly important to discuss with your physician about your HER2 status. RELATED: In Triple Negative Breast Cancer, New Drug Trodelvy Extends LifeLearn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.