Activity of fulvestrant versus exemestane in advanced breast cancer patients with or without visceral metastases: data from the EFECT trial

Louis Mauriac (1) , Gilles Romieu (2) , José Bines (3)

1 Plateforme de génétique moléculaire des cancers d'Aquitaine
2 CRLC Val d'Aurelle-Paul Lamarque
3 INCA - Instituto Nacional de Câncer [Rio de Janeiro]

Patients with visceral metastases (VM: lung and/or liver metastases) are generally regarded as being less responsive to hormonal therapy, and chemotherapy often becomes the default treatment. This paper reports a subgroup analysis from EFECT (The Evaluation of Faslodex versus Exemestane Clinical Trial) examining the efficacy of fulvestrant and exemestane in patients with or without VM. EFECT is a randomised, double-blind, multicentre, Phase III trial in postmenopausal women with advanced breast cancer progressing or recurring after prior non-steroidal aromatase inhibitor therapy. Overall, approximately 57% of patients in EFECT had visceral involvement. Fulvestrant and exemestane demonstrated clinical benefit in 29.1% and 27.2% of patients with VM, respectively. Median duration of response was 13.5 vs 10.8 months and median duration of clinical benefit was 9.9 vs 8.1 months, respectively. These results encourage the use of endocrine agents such as fulvestrant in treating patients with advanced breast cancer and VM.

Mots clés: Advanced breast cancer; Visceral metastases; Fulvestrant; Exemestane; Aromatase inhibitors; Clinical trial

Louis Mauriac, Gilles Romieu, José Bines. Activity of fulvestrant versus exemestane in advanced breast cancer patients with or without visceral metastases: data from the EFECT trial. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, 2008, 117 (1), pp.69-75. ⟨10.1007/s10549-008-0141-z⟩. ⟨hal-00535314⟩