Dr Fatima Cardoso speaks to ecancer about the KEYNOTE-756 trial during the ESMO 2023 Congress.

Previous studies suggest that increased pathologic complete response (pCR) rates after neoadjuvant chemotherapy may have a significant impact in patients with early-stage, at-risk HR+/HER2− breast cancer.

Dr Cardoso discusses the results of the study. 

The median follow-up for the final pCR analysis was 33.2 months. In the ITT population, pembro + chemo improved pCR more than pbo + chemo: 24.3% vs 15.6%; estimated difference, 8.5 percentage points; P=0.00005; results were consistent for the secondary pCR criteria.

She concludes by stating that patients with high-risk, early-stage, oestrogen receptor (ER)-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer who received neoadjuvant pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy followed by adjuvant pembrolizumab plus endocrine therapy experienced a statistically significant increase in pathologic complete response compared to those who received neoadjuvant placebo plus chemotherapy followed by adjuvant pembrolizumab and endocrine therapy.