Skip to main content

Pre-Op Immunotherapy May Help Treat Aggressive Breast Cancers

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Feb 7, 2025.

via HealthDay

FRIDAY, Feb. 7, 2025 -- Giving patients with a common form of breast cancer an immunotherapy drug before surgery appears to boost outcomes, a new phase 3 trial finds.

The study involved patients with estrogen receptor positive (ER+)/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-) breast cancers. That's a tumor subtype that comprises 70% of all breast cancers, the study's authors noted. These tumors also respond unpredictably to treatment, and can pose a high risk of spreading.

All 510 patients involved in the study had early-stage cancers, and all were good candidates for surgery.

The immunotherapy used in the trial was nivolumab (Opdivo), a drug delivered intravenously that works by disabling a protein on the surface of cancer cells called PD-1. This helps the patient's immune system spot and destroy cancer cells more effectively.

The trial was funded by Opdivo's maker, Bristol-Myers Squibb.

The theory driving the new trial was that giving patients an immunotherapy before their tumor is removed "primes" the immune system to better recognize and destroy cancer cells.

The international trial had about half of patients receive nivolumab before surgery, as well as standard chemotherapy. The other half received pre-op chemotherapy plus a placebo, followed by surgery.

After their surgery, all patients also received endocrine therapy, a type of treatment targeting the tumor cell's estrogen receptor.

Pre-op immunotherapy appeared to boost outcomes, the study authors reported.

Looking at the percentage of patients who had a "pathological complete response" -- no sign of cancer at the time of surgery -- 25% of patients who got nivolumab prior to their surgery were cancer-free, compared to 14% of those who did not get pre-op nivolumab.

Patients were most likely to benefit from nivolumab if their tumors produced larger amounts of PD-1, the researchers noted.

“We hope that these results inform treatment decisions and, in turn, improve outcomes for patients with breast cancer, ultimately improving cure rates,” said study co-lead author Dr. Heather McArthur. She is professor of internal medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

The study was published recently in Nature Medicine.

Sources

  • UT Southwestern, news release, Feb. 4, 2025

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Read this next

Former MTV Host Ananda Lewis Dies at 52 After Breast Cancer Battle

FRIDAY, June 13, 2025 — Ananda Lewis, a former MTV host and TV personality, is dead at 52. Her friend Lakshmi Emory shared the news in a June 11 Facebook post...

Racial Disparities Driving Emergency Surgery Costs

TUESDAY, June 10, 2025 — Emergency surgeries are gnawing away at U.S. health care spending, with racial disparities fueling the bill, a new study says. Emergency surgeries...

Celebrity Diagnoses Underscore Rising Breast Cancer Rates in Young Women

MONDAY, June 9, 2025 — More young women in the United States are being diagnosed with breast cancer and several celebrities have helped raise awareness by sharing their...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.