Real-world treatment patterns and outcomes of abemaciclib for the treatment of HR +, HER2-metastatic breast cancer patients in Japan

IntroductionThis study described, in routine clinical practice in Japan, the patient characteristics, treatment patterns, and outcomes of female patients with HR + /HER2- metastatic breast cancer (MBC) who started abemaciclib treatment.MethodsClinical charts were reviewed for patients starting abemaciclib in 12/2018-08/2021 with a minimum of 3 months follow-up data post-abemaciclib initiation regardless of abemaciclib discontinuation. Patient characteristics, treatment patterns, and tumor response were descriptively summarized. Kaplan-Meier curves estimated progression-free survival (PFS).Results200 patients from 14 institutions were included. At abemaciclib initiation, median age was 59 years, and the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status score was 0/1/2 for 102/68/5 patients (58.3/38.9/2.9%), respectively. Most had an abemaciclib starting dose of 150 mg (92.5%). The percentage of patients receiving abemaciclib as 1st, 2nd, or 3rd line treatment was 31.5%, 25.8%, and 25.2%, respectively. The most frequent endocrine therapy drugs used with abemaciclib were fulvestrant (59%) and aromatase inhibitors (40%). Evaluation of tumor response was available for 171 patients, 30.4% of whom had complete/partial response. Median PFS was 13.0 months (95% CI 10.1-15.8 months).ConclusionsIn a routine clinical practice setting in Japan, patients with HR + , HER2- MBC appear to benefit from abemaciclib treatment in terms of treatment response and median PFS, with the results broadly reflecting the evidence demonstrated in clinical trials.

Automated summary

This study describes the patient characteristics, treatment patterns, and outcomes of female patients with HR+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer who received abemaciclib treatment in routine clinical practice in Japan. The results show that patients with HR+/HER2- MBC in Japan benefit from abemaciclib treatment in terms of treatment response and median progression-free survival, which is consistent with the evidence from clinical trials.