The advent of CDK4/6 inhibitors (drugs designed to block the action of CDK4/6 proteins, which play a key role in cell proliferation) has improved treatment prospects for patients with metastatic breast cancer whose tumour cells express hormone receptors but not the HER2 protein (HR+/HER2-). The NATALEE study showed that the addition of ribociclib for three years to conventional adjuvant hormone therapy (i.e. after surgery) prolonged survival free of invasive disease (i.e. extending to surrounding tissues) in patients with early HR breast cancer+ /HER2-. Unlike other studies, NATALEE included a group of patients at intermediate risk of recurrence, usually treated with adjuvant chemotherapy before receiving hormone therapy. However, the benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy in these patients is uncertain. The hypothesis of the NoLEEta study is that by using the CDK 4/6 inhibitor, patients could avoid adjuvant chemotherapy and therefore be spared the side-effects associated with this chemotherapy, without reducing the efficacy of the treatment.
The advent of CDK4/6 inhibitors has changed the outlook of patients with metastatic hormone receptor-positive (HR+) HER2- breast cancer. Moreover, including CDK4/6 inhibitors in the adjuvant treatment regimens strategies has led to significant gains in disease-free survival. The phase III NATALEE trial demonstrated the efficacy of an adjuvant three-year treatment with ribociclib in prolonging invasive disease-free survival (iDFS) in patients with intermediate and high-risk HR+ HER2- early breast cancer. Contrarily to similar studies of CDK4/6 inhibitors in this setting, NATALEE included a group of patients with intermediate clinical risk (pT1-2 pN1, pT3-4 pN0 or pT2 pN0 with histological grade 3 or grade 2 with Ki67≥ 20%). These patients are usually considered for adjuvant chemotherapy based on their clinicopathological conditions or the results of a genomic signature (e.g. Oncotype Dx). Nevertheless, the benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy in these patients is uncertain (and likely small) in the context of an adjuvant treatment strategy that includes a CDK 4/6 inhibitor. As such, a de-escalation trial could demonstrate that patients with intermediate-risk breast cancer treated with CDK4/6 inhibitors could be spared the dreaded chemotherapy side effects while ensuring similar survival outcomes. In order to be generalizable and practice changing, a trial in this setting should aim to be as pragmatic as possible, particularly in inclusion criteria, with the required resources for patient inclusion and delivery of care being as similar as possible to those employed in usual care. As such, chemotherapy eligibility should be defined similarly to routine clinical practice in the participating centers (i.e. using routine clinicopathological parameters and/or genomic signatures). While single-arm designs could help address non-inferiority in the previously mentioned setting, they are usually compared to historical controls and lack external validation. Moreover, in some settings, like early breast cancer, the standard of care may change relatively quickly (e.g. Oncotype Dx-based chemotherapy de-escalation or adjuvant CDK4/6 inhibitors use), rendering the comparison to historical controls challenging, limiting the study conclusions and their impact on clinical practice. Finally, there is no consensus on the optimal non-inferiority threshold in single-arm trials using historical controls as a comparator. As such, randomized controlled non-inferiority trials with a strict non-inferiority margin remain the gold standard design to prove that a de-escalated treatment regimen is safe and advantageous, and the only ones capable of producing level IA evidence according to ESMO (Trapani et al., Annals of Oncology 2022).
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
3,902
Endocrine therapy and ribociclib treatment
De-escalation of the chemotherapy in the adjuvant setting
Clinique de l'Europe
Amiens, France
NOT_YET_RECRUITINGInstitut de Cancérologie de l'Ouest - Site Paul Papin
Angers, France
NOT_YET_RECRUITINGCH Victor Dupouy
Argenteuil, France
NOT_YET_RECRUITINGCH Henri Mondor
Aurillac, France
ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITINGInvasive breast cancer-free survival (iBCFS)
iBCFS is defined as the time from the date of randomization to the date of the first event of invasive ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence, local-regional invasive recurrence, distant recurrence, death (any cause) or invasive contralateral breast cancer as assessed by investigator.
Time frame: From ramdomization to iBCFS, up to 12 years.
Invasive disease-free survival (iDFS)
iDFS is defined as the time from date of randomization to the date of the first iDFS event that is: i) same event as IBCFS, or ii) secondary invasive non breast cancer.
Time frame: From ramdomization to iDFS event, up to 12 years.
Distance disease-free survival (DDFS)
DDFS is defined as the time from the date of randomization to the date of the first event of distant recurrence, death (any cause), or second primary non-breast invasive cancer (excluding basal and squamous cell carcinomas of the skin).
Time frame: From ramdomization to DDFS event, up to 12 years.
Overall survival (OS)
OS is defined as the time from the date of randomization to the date of death due to any cause
Time frame: From ramdomization to death from any cause, up to 12 years.
Type of iBCFS event
To evaluate the rate of the different types of iBCFS events in each treatment arm
Time frame: From ramdomization to iBCFS event, up to 12 years.
Acute and late toxicity during the study focusing on grade ≥2
The National Cancer Institute-Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 5 (NCI-CTCAE v5) is widely accepted in the community of oncology research as the leading rating scale for adverse events. This scale, divided into 5 grades (1 = "mild", 2 = "moderate", 3 = "severe", 4 = "life-threatening", and 5 = "death")
Time frame: Throughout study completion, up to 8.5 years.
Quality of life questionnaire - Core 30 (QLQ-C30)
Developed by the EORTC, this self-reported questionnaire assesses the health-related quality of life of cancer patients in clinical trials. The questionnaire includes five functional scales (physical, everyday activity, cognitive, emotional, and social), three symptom scales (fatigue, pain, nausea and vomiting), a health/quality of life overall scale, and a number of additional elements assessing common symptoms (including dyspnea, loss of appetite, insomnia, constipation, and diarrhea), as well as, the perceived financial impact of the disease. All of the scales and single-item measures range in score from 0 to 100. A high scale score represents a higher response level.
Time frame: At baseline, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 5 years, 8.5 years from randomization.
Quality of Life Questionnaire - Breast cancer module (QLQ-BR42)
This EORTC breast cancer specific questionnaire is intended to supplement the QLQ-C30. The QLQ-BR42 incorporates nine multi-item scales to assess body image, sexual functioning, breast satisfaction, systemic therapy side effects, arm symptoms, breast symptoms, endocrine therapy symptoms, skin mucosis symptoms, endocrine sexual symptoms. In addition, single items assess sexual enjoyment, future perspective and being upset by hair loss. All items are rated on a four-point Likert-type scale (1 = "not at all", 2 = "a little", 3 = "quite a bit", and 4 = "very much"), and are linearly transformed to a 0-100 scale. Higher scores indicate more severe symptoms or problems for all items.
Time frame: At baseline, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 5 years, 8.5 years from randomization.
This platform is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional.
Centre Hospitalier d'Auxerre
Auxerre, France
NOT_YET_RECRUITINGSainte Catherine - Institut du Cancer Avignon Provence
Avignon, France
RECRUITINGCentre Hospitalier de la Cote Basque
Bayonne, France
ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITINGCentre Hospitalier Simone Veil de Beauvais
Beauvais, France
ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITINGCentre Hospitalier Universitaire de Besancon
Besançon, France
NOT_YET_RECRUITINGInstitut Bergonie
Bordeaux, France
NOT_YET_RECRUITING...and 128 more locations