Cynthia Ma , lead author and Professor of Medicine in the Division of Oncology along with her colleagues Kiran Vij, Jeremy Hoog, Mark Watson and Erika Crouch in the Department of Pathology investigated the role of neoadjuvant anastrazole, fulvestrant or the combination in a multi-institutional trial. The trial did not find a benefit of fulvestrant or the combination over anatrazole.
However an exploratory genomic analysis demonstrated that in a subset of ER positive breast cancer, the poor prognosis luminal B patients benefited more from the combination therapy with dual ER targeting that includes an aromatase inhibitor and a selective estrogen receptor degrader which has implications on future research in ER positive breast cancer. The manuscript “Endocrine-Sensitive Disease Rate in Postmenopausal Patients With Estrogen Receptor–Rich/ERBB2-Negative Breast Cancer Receiving Neoadjuvant Anastrozole, Fulvestrant, or Their Combination: A Phase 3 Randomized Clinical Trial” is available online at JAMA Oncology.