Giulia Val Bianchi, Xavier Pivot, Guy Jerusalem, Luis de la Cruz-Merino, Stephen Chia, Tetiana Taran, Gabe S. Sonke, Seock-Ah Im, Arnd Nusch, Francisco J. Esteva, Patrick Neven, J. Thaddeus Beck, Michelino De Laurentiis, Miguel Martin, Arunava Chakravartty, Dennis J. Slamon, K. Petrakova, Yingbo Wang, Karen Rodriguez-Lorenc, Manu Sondhi, Peter A. Fasching, Slamon, D. J., Neven, P., Chia, S., Fasching, P. A., De Laurentiis, M., Im, S. -A., Petrakova, K., Bianchi, G. V., Esteva, F. J., Martin, M., Nusch, A., Sonke, G. S., De La Cruz-Merino, L., Beck, J. T., Pivot, X., Sondhi, M., Wang, Y., Chakravartty, A., Rodriguez-Lorenc, K., Taran, T., and Jerusalem, G.
In an earlier analysis of this phase 3 trial, ribociclib plus fulvestrant showed a greater benefit with regard to progression-free survival than fulvestrant alone in postmenopausal patients with hormone-receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative advanced breast cancer. Here we report the results of a protocol-specified second interim analysis of overall survival. Patients were randomly assigned in a 2:1 ratio to receive either ribociclib or placebo in addition to fulvestrant as first-line or second-line treatment. Survival was evaluated by means of a stratified log-rank test and summarized with the use of Kaplan-Meier methods. This analysis was based on 275 deaths: 167 among 484 patients (34.5%) receiving ribociclib and 108 among 242 (44.6%) receiving placebo. Ribociclib plus fulvestrant showed a significant overall survival benefit over placebo plus fulvestrant. The estimated overall survival at 42 months was 57.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], 52.0 to 63.2) in the ribociclib group and 45.9% (95% CI, 36.9 to 54.5) in the placebo group, for a 28% difference in the relative risk of death (hazard ratio, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.57 to 0.92; P = 0.00455). The benefit was consistent across most subgroups. In a descriptive update, median progression-free survival among patients receiving first-line treatment was 33.6 months (95% CI, 27.1 to 41.3) in the ribociclib group and 19.2 months (95% CI, 14.9 to 23.6) in the placebo group. No new safety signals were observed. Ribociclib plus fulvestrant showed a significant overall survival benefit over placebo plus fulvestrant in patients with hormone-receptor-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer. (Funded by Novartis; MONALEESA-3 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02422615.).