Prof Stephen Johnston speaks to ecancer about an update from the monarchE trial.

The trial examines the long-term survival benefit of adding 2 years of adjuvant abemaciclib to endocrine therapy (ET) in patients with HR+, HER2−, node-positive, high-risk early breast cancer (EBC).

Prof Johnston highlights that the addition of abemaciclib reduced the risk of death by 15.8% compared to ET alone (HR 0.84; P = 0.027), marking a statistically significant improvement.

The study shows that adding abemaciclib to endocrine therapy for 2 years delivers durable survival and relapse-free benefits in high-risk early breast cancer, transforming the outlook for patients with node-positive HR+, HER2− disease.