What You Need To Know: FDA-Approved Drug for Early Stage Breast Cancer
You read it: the FDA approves FIRST EVER drug for adjuvant treatment when used with endocrine therapy for early breast cancer YES, you can ask your doc about this drug! Keep reading for more info This is the first CDK 4/6 inhibitor approved for adjuvant treatment of breast cancer. In patients with high risk of recurrence and Ki-67 Score ≥20% the trial demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in invasive disease-free survival(HR 0.626; 95%)
LAYMENS TERMS PLEASE
When used in conjunction with with endocrine therapy, Abemaciclib, can slow the growth of HR+ breast cancer or help prevent it from coming back.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Drug name: Abemaciclib (Verzenio,Eli Lilly and Company)
Must use with endocrine therapy (tamoxifen or an aromatase inhibitor, like Letrozole)
For adjuvant treatment (post chemo) of adult patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative
Must be Node-positive
Ki-67 score ≥20%
Adjuvant Treatment: Additional cancer treatment given after the primary treatment to lower the risk that the cancer will come back. Adjuvant therapy may include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormone therapy, targeted
ADVERSE REACTIONS
The most common adverse reactions (≥20%) were diarrhea, infections, neutropenia, fatigue, leukopenia(low white blood cells) nausea, anemia, and headache.
MY THOUGHTS:
I am out of the range of starting this drug, as I will be 3 years since diagnosis in August. But I’m incredibly happy with this news for those of you who are have early stage breast cancer.
