Background
The purpose of this study was to determine whether new systemic therapy regimens have resulted in improved survival and increased time on first‐ and second‐line hormonal treatment for patients with hormone receptor (HR)–positive metastatic breast cancer (MBC) over time.
Methods
Patients diagnosed with HR‐positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)–negative MBC were identified across 3 time cohorts (2003‐2005, 2007‐2009, and 2011‐2013). Data were prospectively collected. Cases with previous, synchronous, or subsequent contralateral breast cancer were excluded. The types of first‐ and second‐line therapies, the times on first‐ and second‐line hormonal treatment, and the median survival times were compared across the cohorts.
Results
Within the time period analyzed, 9 new adjuvant systemic therapies (with or without neoadjuvant therapy) and 2 metastatic systemic therapies were approved at BC Cancer for the treatment of HR‐positive, HER2‐negative MBC. In the 3 time cohorts, 3953 patients diagnosed with MBC were identified. Among the 2432 patients (62%) who had HR‐positive/HER2‐negative disease, 2197 (90%) received at least 1 line of systemic therapy after the diagnosis of MBC, and 80% of these patients (1752 of 2197) received first‐ and/or second‐line hormonal treatment. The median duration on hormonal treatment was 9.0 months for the first line and 6.1 months for the second line. The durations were similar across the time cohorts (range for the first line, 8.9‐9.0 months; range for the second line, 6.0‐6.1 months). The median survival for the entire study population was 2.0 years (95% confidence interval, 1.8‐2.1 years), and there was no significant difference between the cohorts (range, 1.9‐2.0 years).
Conclusions
Even though more adjuvant and metastatic systemic therapies have been approved since 2003, population‐level gains in survival and the time on hormonal treatment for patients with HR‐positive, HER2‐negative MBC have not been made over the course of a decade.