Title

Triptorelin With Either Exemestane or Tamoxifen in Treating Premenopausal Women With Hormone-Responsive Breast Cancer
A Phase III Trial Evaluating The Role Of Exemestane Plus GnRH Analogue As Adjuvant Therapy For Premenopausal Women With Endocrine Responsive Breast Cancer
  • Phase

    Phase 3
  • Study Type

    Interventional
  • Study Participants

    2672
RATIONALE: Estrogen can stimulate the growth of breast cancer cells. Hormone therapy using triptorelin, exemestane, and tamoxifen may fight breast cancer by blocking the use of estrogen. It is not yet known whether giving triptorelin together with exemestane is more effective than triptorelin and tamoxifen in treating hormone-responsive breast cancer.

PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying triptorelin and exemestane to see how well they work compared to triptorelin and tamoxifen in treating premenopausal women with hormone-responsive breast cancer.
OBJECTIVES:

Compare the disease-free survival, breast cancer-free interval, distant recurrence-free interval and overall survival of premenopausal women with endocrine-responsive breast cancer when treated with triptorelin and exemestane vs triptorelin and tamoxifen.
Compare the quality of life, including late side effects of early menopause, of patients treated with these regimens.

OUTLINE: This is a randomized, international, multicenter study. Patients are stratified according to planned use of concurrent adjuvant chemotherapy (yes vs no), and number of positive lymph nodes (0 vs 1 or more). Treatment duration is 5 years. Patients are followed every 3 months for 1 year, every 6 months for 5 years, and then annually thereafter. Quality of life is assessed at baseline, every 6 months for 2 years, and annually for 3 years.
Study Started
Nov 03
2003
Primary Completion
Mar 11
2011
Study Completion
Dec 31
2025
Anticipated
Results Posted
Apr 05
2016
Estimate
Last Update
Nov 17
2022

Drug exemestane

  • Other names: Aromasin

Drug tamoxifen

  • Other names: Nolvadex

Drug triptorelin

  • Other names: GnRH analogue, Trelstar Depot, Decapeptyl Depot

T+OFS Active Comparator

Ovarian function suppression (OFS) by triptorelin (GnRH analogue) 3.75mg by im injection q28 days for 5 years plus tamoxifen 20mg orally daily for 5 years. Tamoxifen (T) begins after the completion of adjuvant chemotherapy if given, or approximately 6-8 weeks after the initiation of triptorelin. Bilateral oophorectomy or ovarian irradiation was allowed after at least 6 months of triptorelin.

E+OFS Experimental

Ovarian function suppression (OFS) by triptorelin (GnRH analogue) 3.75mg by im injection q28 days for 5 years plus exemestane 25mg orally daily for 5 years. Exemestane (E) begins after the completion of adjuvant chemotherapy if given, or approximately 6-8 weeks after the initiation of triptorelin. Bilateral oophorectomy or ovarian irradiation was allowed after at least 6 months of triptorelin.

Criteria

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

Histologically confirmed breast cancer

Completely resected disease

No clinically detectable residual loco-regional axillary disease

Prior surgery for primary breast cancer of 1 of the following types:

Total mastectomy with or without adjuvant radiotherapy
Breast-conserving procedure (e.g., lumpectomy, quadrantectomy, or partial mastectomy with margins negative* for invasive disease and ductal carcinoma in situ) with planned radiotherapy NOTE: *If all other margins are clear a positive posterior (deep) margin is permitted, provided the excision was performed down to the pectoral fascia and all tumor has been removed OR a positive anterior (superficial; abutting skin) margin is allowed provided all tumor was removed

Tumor confined to the breast and axillary nodes

Tumor detected in internal mammary chain nodes by sentinel node procedure and is not enlarged is allowed

Axillary lymph node dissection or a negative axillary sentinel node biopsy required

Patients with negative or microscopically positive axillary sentinel nodes are eligible
Positive sentinel nodes must have either axillary dissection or radiation of axillary nodes
No distant metastases

No locally advanced inoperable breast cancer, including any of the following:

Inflammatory breast cancer
Supraclavicular node involvement
Enlarged internal mammary nodes (unless pathologically negative)
Bilateral synchronous invasive breast cancer allowed if disease meets all other eligibility criteria
No prior ipsilateral or contralateral invasive breast cancer

Hormone receptor status:

Estrogen and/or progesterone receptor positive

At least 10% of the tumor cells positive by immunohistochemistry
If > 1 breast tumor, each tumor must be hormone receptor positive

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age

Premenopausal

Sex

Female

Menopausal status

Premenopausal

Estradiol in the premenopausal range after prior surgery OR meets the following criteria:

Menstruating regularly for the past 6 months
Has not used any form of hormonal treatment (including hormonal contraception) within the past 6 months

Performance status

Not specified

Life expectancy

Not specified

Hematopoietic

Not specified

Hepatic

No systemic hepatic disease that would preclude prolonged follow-up

Renal

No systemic renal disease that would preclude prolonged follow-up

Cardiovascular

No systemic cardiovascular disease that would preclude prolonged follow-up
No prior thrombosis (e.g., deep vein thrombosis) and/or embolism unless patient is medically suitable

Pulmonary

No systemic pulmonary disease that would preclude prolonged follow-up

Other

Not pregnant or nursing
Fertile patients must use effective nonhormonal contraception
No history of noncompliance to medical regimens
No other nonmalignant systemic disease that would preclude prolonged follow-up

No other malignancy within the past 5 years except adequately treated basal cell or squamous cell skin cancer, nonbreast carcinoma in situ, contralateral or ipsilateral carcinoma in situ of the breast, or other nonrecurrent invasive nonbreast malignancy, including any of the following:

Stage I papillary thyroid cancer
Stage IA carcinoma of the cervix
Stage IA or B endometrioid endometrial cancer
Borderline or stage I ovarian cancer
No psychiatric, addictive, or other disorder that would preclude study compliance

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy

Prior or concurrent neoadjuvant or adjuvant trastuzumab allowed

Chemotherapy

No prior neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy

Endocrine therapy

No prior tamoxifen, other selective estrogen-receptor modulators (SERMs) (e.g., raloxifene), or hormone replacement therapy for more than 1 year before breast cancer diagnosis
No prior neoadjuvant or adjuvant endocrine therapy since diagnosis of breast cancer
No concurrent oral or transdermal hormonal therapy
No other concurrent estrogen, progesterone, or androgens
No other concurrent aromatase inhibitors
No concurrent oral or other hormonal contraceptives (i.e., implants or depot injections)

Radiotherapy

See Disease Characteristics
No prior ovarian radiotherapy

Surgery

See Disease Characteristics
No prior bilateral oophorectomy

Other

No concurrent bisphosphonates, except in the following cases:

Bone density is at least 1.5 standard deviations below the young adult normal mean
Participation in a randomized clinical study testing bisphosphonates in the adjuvant breast cancer setting
No other concurrent investigational agents

Summary

T+OFS

E+OFS

All Events

Event Type Organ System Event Term T+OFS E+OFS

Disease-free Survival

Estimated percentage of patients alive and disease-free at 5 years from randomization, where disease-free survival is defined as the time from randomization to the first appearance of one of the following: invasive breast cancer recurrence at local, regional, or distant site, invasive contralateral breast cancer, second (non-breast) invasive cancer, or death without cancer event; or censored at date of last follow up.

T+OFS

87.3
percentage of participants
95% Confidence Interval: 85.7 to 88.7

E+OFS

91.1
percentage of participants
95% Confidence Interval: 89.7 to 92.3

Breast Cancer-free Interval

Estimated percentage of patients alive and disease-free at 5 years from randomization, where breast cancer-free interval is defined as the time from randomization to the invasive breast cancer recurrence at local, regional, or distant site, or invasive contralateral breast cancer; or censored at date of last follow up.

T+OFS

88.8
percentage of participants
95% Confidence Interval: 87.3 to 90.1

E+OFS

92.8
percentage of participants
95% Confidence Interval: 91.6 to 93.9

Distant Recurrence-free Interval

Estimated percentage of patients alive and disease-free at 5 years from randomization, where distant recurrence-free interval is defined as the time from randomization to breast cancer recurrence at a distant site; or censored at date of last follow-up

T+OFS

92.0
percentage of participants
95% Confidence Interval: 90.7 to 93.1

E+OFS

93.8
percentage of participants
95% Confidence Interval: 92.7 to 94.8

Overall Survival

Estimated percentage of patients alive at 8 years from randomization, where overall survival is defined as the time from randomization to death from any cause; or censored at date last known alive.

T+OFS

93.3
percentage of participants
95% Confidence Interval: 92.1 to 94.3

E+OFS

93.4
percentage of participants
95% Confidence Interval: 92.2 to 94.4

Total

2660
Participants

Age, Continuous

HER2 status

Lymph-node status

Sex: Female, Male

Tumor grade

Tumor size

Overall Study

T+OFS

E+OFS

Drop/Withdrawal Reasons

T+OFS

E+OFS