PIK3CA mutation status, progression and survival in advanced HR + /HER2- breast cancer: a meta-analysis of published clinical trials

BACKGROUND: Approximately 40% of hormone receptor positive/human epidermal receptor 2 negative (HR + /HER2-) metastatic breast cancer (mBC) patients harbor phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase catalytic subunit alpha (PIK3CA) mutations. However, associations between PIK3CA mutation status and clinical outcomes among patients with HR + /HER2- mBC have been heterogeneous across clinical trials. This meta-analysis was conducted to survey recently available trial data to assess the prognostic effects of PIK3CA among patients with HR + /HER2- mBC. METHODS: Randomized clinical trials reporting progression-free survival (PFS) or overall survival (OS) stratified by PIK3CA status in HR + /HER2- mBC were identified via systematic literature review. Trial arms receiving phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)-targeted therapies were excluded. Meta-regression analysis was used to estimate the association between PIK3CA status and PFS and OS among included studies. RESULTS: The analyzed data included 3,219 patients from 33 study arms across 11 trials (PIK3CA mutated: 1,386, wild type: 1,833). PIK3CA mutation was associated with shorter median PFS (difference [95% CI] (months): -1.8 [-3.4, -0.1], I(2) = 35%) and shorter median OS (-8.4 [-13.4, -3.5], I(2) = 58%, N = 1,545). Findings were similar for PFS rates at 6 months (odds ratio [95% CI]: 0.74 [0.59, 0.94], I(2) = 42%, N = 3,160) and 12 months (0.76 [0.59, 0.99], I(2) = 42%, N = 2,468) and directionally consistent but not statistically significant at 18 months (N = 1,726). CONCLUSIONS: Pooling evidence across multiple studies, PIK3CA mutation was associated with shorter PFS and OS. These findings suggest a negative prognostic value of PIK3CA mutations in patients with HR + /HER2- mBC. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-022-10078-5.