Key clinical point: In patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer, paclitaxel can be an alternative to docetaxel with first-line pertuzumab plus trastuzumab.
Major finding: The median follow-up was 68.7 months. The median progression-free survival was 19.4 (95% confidence interval [CI], 16.9-22.1) months in the docetaxel, 23.2 (95% CI,19.6-25.6) months in the paclitaxel, and 19.2 (95% CI, 11.7-37.1) months in the nab-paclitaxel group. Docetaxel was associated with higher rates of grade ≥3 neutropenia and febrile neutropenia.
Study details: A multicenter, open-label, single-arm phase 3b PERUSE study of 1,436 eligible patients with inoperable HER2-positive locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer who received pertuzumab and trastuzumab with a taxane (docetaxel, paclitaxel, or nab-paclitaxel).
Disclosures: The study was supported by F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Basel, Switzerland. The authors reported receiving research funding, personal fees, grants, honoraria, advisory/speaker/consulting fees, and travel/accommodation/expenses from various sources. Some authors were employed by and/or owned stocks in pharmaceutical companies.
Source: Miles D et al. Ann Oncol. 2021 Jul 1. doi: 10.1016/j.annonc.2021.06.024 .