Drug cuts risk of breast cancer recurrence for some early-stage patients, trial shows

A drug used in people in the early stage of the most common kind of breast cancer – HR+/HER2- breast cancer – significantly reduced the risk of the cancer returning after treatment, according to a new study.

The US Food and Drug Administration approved the Novartis drug ribociclib, marketed under the brand name Kisqali, in 2017 for people with cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, helping them live longer by slowing the disease’s growth and spread. The results of a late-stage trial in people with early-stage cancer were presented Friday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago. The drug is not yet indicated for this patient population.

“Having seen that benefit, it made perfect sense to assess whether the same benefit can now be extended to a group of patients with breast cancer who are at a much earlier stage of their disease,” Novartis’ Dr. Shreeram Aradhye, president for global development and the company’s chief medical officer, said at a news conference Friday. “Breast cancer is often diagnosed at an earlier stage, but because it is picked up early, as in stage two or three, before it has spread, does not necessarily mean that those patients are not at risk of a potential recurrence.”

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