As reported in JAMA Oncology by Sledge et al, an interim analysis of overall survival in the phase III MONARCH 2 trial has shown a significant advantage for abemaciclib plus fulvestrant vs fulvestrant alone in women with advanced hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer whose disease had progressed after prior treatment with endocrine therapy.

In a secondary analysis of the phase III TAILORx trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Sparano et al found that adjuvant chemotherapy plus endocrine therapy produced good 5-year outcomes among women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative, axillary node–negative breast cancer and a high 21-gene recurrence score of 26 to 100.

In a trial reported in The Lancet, Sessler et al found no difference in breast cancer recurrence after surgery with regional anesthesia-analgesia using paravertebral block and propofol vs general anesthesia with the volatile anesthetic sevoflurane and opioid analgesia. They also found no difference in persistent incisional pain between approaches.

Long-term follow-up analysis of the NCCTG N9831 (Alliance) and NRG Oncology/NSABP B-31 trials, reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Chumsri et al, showed poorer recurrence-free survival in hormone receptor (HR)-negative vs HR-positive HER2-positive breast cancer, with the addition of adjuvant trastuzumab to chemotherapy having a similar degree of benefit in both groups of patients.

In a phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Tan et al found that the addition of the cell-cycle inhibitor trilaciclib to gemcitabine/carboplatin chemotherapy did not reduce duration or incidence of severe neutropenia during chemotherapy in women with triple-negative breast cancer. A potential survival benefit was observed in patients receiving trilaciclib.