Key clinical point: In patients with locally advanced triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), neoadjuvant apatinib (Apa) plus dose-dense paclitaxel and carboplatin (ddTCb) was more effective in improving clinical outcomes than ddTCb alone and showed an acceptable safety profile.
Major finding: A significantly higher proportion of patients in the Apa + ddTCb vs ddTCb treatment group achieved pathological complete response (60.9% vs 30.4%; P = .009) and underwent breast-conserving surgery (47.8% vs 21.7%; P = .016). The incidence of adverse events was higher in the Apa + ddTCb treatment arm, but they were generally acceptable.
Study details: This prospective cohort study included 23 patients with stages I-IIIC TNBC who received neoadjuvant Apa + ddTCb therapy matched with 69 patients with stages I-IIIC TNBC who received neoadjuvant ddTCb therapy only.
Disclosures: This study was supported by CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences and the Translational research project of Medical Oncology Key Foundation of Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Source: Liu J, Xu B, Zhang P, et al. Efficacy and safety of apatinib combined with dose-dense paclitaxel and carboplatin in neoadjuvant therapy for locally advanced triple-negative breast cancer: A prospective cohort study with propensity-matched analysis. Int J Cancer. 2023 (Sep 7). doi: 10.1002/ijc.34717