Clinical outcomes of tucidinostat-based therapy after prior CDK4/6 inhibitor progression in hormone receptor-positive heavily pretreated metastatic breast cancer

BACKGROUND: CDK4/6 inhibitors combined with endocrine therapy are standard first- or second-line treatment for patients with HR-positive and HER2-negative advanced breast cancer, however, there is currently no optimal recommendation for therapeutic strategies after progression on CDK4/6i. The aim of this study is to analyze the efficacy and safety of HDAC inhibitor Tucidinostat combined with endocrine therapy in patients after prior CDK4/6 inhibitor progression. METHODS: The pathological and clinical data of 44 HR-positive and HER2-negative breast cancer patients treated with tucidinostat after progression on CDK4/6i at the Breast Oncology Department of the Fifth Medical Center of the PLA General Hospital from July 2019 to October 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. Observation indexes included progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), clinical benefit rate (CBR), objective response rate (ORR) and adverse events. At the same time, we attempted to identify potential genomic predictors using available next-generation sequencing (NGS). RESULTS: A total of 44 patients were enrolled in this study. Median follow-up was 10 months (1–26 months) by the data cutoff date (February 2022). The CBR was 6.8% (3/44), the median PFS was 2.0 months (95% CI 1.9–2.1), and the median OS was 14 months (95% CI 6.3–21.7). The mPFS was 4.1 months (95%CI: 0–8.2) in patients with 1 metastatic site, and the mPFS was 4.5 months (95%CI: 4.2–4.8) in patients who received sequential tucidinostat after CDK4/6i failure. Multivariate analysis showed that patients with 1 metastatic site or sequential tucidinostat treatment after failure of CDK4/6i were more likely to benefit from tucidinostat combined with endocrine therapy. Preliminary data showed PIK3CA mutation may be associated with resistance of tucidinostat therapy. No grade 4 adverse events and no treatment-related deaths were recorded in the study. Dose reductions because of adverse events occurred in 4 (9.1%) patients. CONCLUSIONS: This study preliminarily shows that tucidinostat combined with endocrine therapy may be an optional sequential strategy for patients with HR+/HER2-advanced breast cancer that has progressed on CDK4/6 inhibitor, especially for these with lower tumor burden and fewer prior palliative treatment.