A team of researchers led by Professor Lee Soo Chin, Head and Senior Consultant, Department of Haematology-Oncology, National University Cancer Institute, Singapore (NCIS), and Senior Principal Investigator at Cancer Science Institute of Singapore (CSI Singapore), has discovered that a novel combination of letrozole, a type of hormonal endocrine therapy, with lenvatinib, a type of targeted anti-cancer therapy, can give those with advanced stage metastatic breast cancer better control of their disease with less severe side effects.

 

The team conducted a study involving 43 patients with stage 4 hormone receptor positive breast cancer. Despite multiple prior treatments having proved ineffective for many of the patients; on this new drug combination, half of them experienced either tumour shrinkage or good disease control of more than 6 months. As both letrozole and lenvatinib are orally administrated, many patients were also able to continue their daily activities with minimal interruptions for hospital visits and maintain a good quality of life while on treatment.

 

In the future, the researchers hope to offer this new therapy as an effective option for disease control to stage 4 hormone receptor positive breast cancer patients. The team is currently conducting a randomised late phase clinical trial involving up to 120 patients with stage 4 hormone receptor positive breast cancer who have failed standard first-line endocrine therapy and targeted therapy (CDK4/6 inhibitor). The study will compare the effectiveness of the letrozole-lenvatinib combination against fulvestrant, the current standard of care second line therapy for such patients. Recruitment of patients is currently ongoing at NCIS and is planned to expand to two other study sites in Singapore.

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