Skip to content

Anastrozole or Fulvestrant in Treating Postmenopausal Patients With Breast Cancer

Response to Neoadjuvant Treatment With Anti-aromatase Anastrozole and Anti-estrogen Fulvestrant: a Randomized Phase II Study in Postmenopausal Patients With Hormone-sensitive Non-metastatic Breast Cancer and an Exploratory Study of Molecular Signatures of Response.

Status
Completed
Phases
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT00871858
Acronym
HORGEN
Enrollment
120
Registered
2009-03-30
Start date
2008-03-18
Completion date
2018-07-02
Last updated
2021-02-24

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Breast Cancer

Keywords

stage II breast cancer, stage IIIA breast cancer, stage IIIB breast cancer, estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer, progesterone receptor-positive breast cancer

Brief summary

RATIONALE: Estrogen can cause the growth of breast cancer cells. Hormone therapy using anastrozole may fight breast cancer by lowering the amount of estrogen the body makes. Fulvestrant may fight breast cancer by blocking the use of estrogen by the tumor cells. Given the lack of clinical data on fulvestrant in patients with large operable or locally advanced hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer, and the potential to identify differences in the mechanism of resistance using the neoadjuvant model,we decided to perform a multicentre randomised phase II clinical trial of anastrozole and fulvestrant. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of neoadjuvant anastrozole and fulvestrant treatment of large operable or locally advanced hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer not eligible for initial breast-conserving surgery, and to identify genomic changes occurring after treatment.

Detailed description

OBJECTIVES: Primary * Evaluate clinical tumor response at 6 months in patients with hormone-sensitive non-metastatic breast cancer treated with neoadjuvant anastrozole and fulvestrant. Secondary * Evaluate tumor regression by mammography and ultrasound in these patients. * Evaluate the rate of breast conservation at 6 months of treatment in these patients. * Evaluate the tolerability of these regimens. * Estimate the relapse-free survival at 5 years. * Identify molecular signatures predictive of response in these patients. * Identify genes implicated in response in these patients. * Identify changes in mRNA splicing of genes involved in breast tumorigenesis. OUTLINE: This is a non-comparative multicentre randomised phase II study in which patients from three French centres were randomly assigned in a 1 : 1 ratio to receive either anatrozole or fulvestrant. All patients undergo biopsy at baseline. Patients are randomized between the two treatment arms. * Arm I: Patients receive oral anastrozole once daily for 6 months. * Arm II: Patients receive fulvestrant intramuscularly on days 1, 14, and 28 and then once a month at 2-6 months. Within 8 days after completion of hormone therapy, all patients undergo surgical resection of the residual lesion followed by radiotherapy. Patients then receive oral anastrozole once daily for 5 years. Tissue samples from biopsy and surgery are analyzed to assess molecular signatures and sensitivity to treatment, and to compare gene expression variation with response.

Interventions

DRUGanastrozole

Given orally

DRUGfulvestrant

Given intramuscularly

Sponsors

National Cancer Institute, France
CollaboratorOTHER_GOV
Institut Bergonié
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
18 Years to 100 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: * Histologically confirmed invasive breast cancer, meeting 1 of the following criteria: * SBR grade I-II disease (patients \< 65 years of age) * SBR grade I-III disease (patients \> 65 years of age) * T2 (2-5 cm), T3, or T4B, and N0-1 disease * No metastatic disease * Breast lesion not amenable to breast-conserving resection * No inflammatory breast cancer * No prior breast cancer * Hormone receptor status: * Estrogen receptor- and/or progesterone receptor-positive PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: * Postmenopausal * No other cancer within the past 5 years except for adequately treated skin carcinoma or carcinoma in situ of the cervix * No contraindication to anti-hormonal treatment * No psychological, familial, social, or geographical reasons that would preclude follow up PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: * At least 8 days since prior hormone replacement therapy * No concurrent anti-vitamin K treatment

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Objective Response Rate (ORR) Determined by Clinical Palpation6 monthsObjective response rate is defined as the rate of participants with partial or complete responses according to RECIST V1.0. Complete response is defined as the disappearance of all target lesions and partial response is defined as at least a 30% decrease in the sum of the longest diameters (SLD) of target lesions, taking as reference the baseline SLD (RECIST V1.0.).

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Objective Response Rate (ORR) Determined by Ultrasound6 monthsObjective response rate is defined as the rate of participants with partial or complete responses according to RECIST V1.0. Complete response is defined as the disappearance of all target lesions and partial response is defined as at least a 30% decrease in the sum of the longest diameters (SLD) of target lesions, taking as reference the baseline SLD (RECIST V1.0.).
Objective Response Rate (ORR) Determined by Mammography6 monthsObjective response rate is defined as the rate of participants with partial or complete responses according to RECIST V1.0. Complete response is defined as the disappearance of all target lesions and partial response is defined as at least a 30% decrease in the sum of the longest diameters (SLD) of target lesions, taking as reference the baseline SLD (RECIST V1.0.).
Rate of Breast-conserving Surgery6 monthsbreast-conserving surgery concerns patients who did not undergo mastectomy.
Percentage of Participants With 5-year Relapse-Free Survival5 yearsRelapse-Free survival (RFS) is measured from the date of randomization to the date of the following events, whichever occurs first according to the DATECAN recommendations for breast cancer: * Invasive ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence/ progression ; * Local invasive recurrence/progression ; * Regional invasive recurrence/progression (N+: regional progression) ; * Appearance/Occurrence of Metastatic recurrence; * Death whatever the cause. Participants who did not experience events were censored at the date of last follow-up. RFS was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. No comparison test was performed between the two arms as this study is non-comparative.

Countries

France

Participant flow

Participants by arm

ArmCount
Arm A (ANA)
Patients receive oral anastrozole as 1 mg film-coated tablets, once daily for 6 months. anastrozole: Given orally
61
Arm B (FULV)
Patients receive fulvestrant intramuscularly ( 250 mg/5 ml solution) on days 1, 14, and 28 and then once a month thereafter until 6 months. fulvestrant: Given intramuscularly
59
Total120

Withdrawals & dropouts

PeriodReasonFG000FG001
Overall StudyAdverse Event11
Overall StudyLost to Follow-up01
Overall StudyProtocol Violation34
Overall StudyWithdrawal by Subject11

Baseline characteristics

CharacteristicArm A (ANA)Arm B (FULV)Total
Age, Continuous69.1 years70.5 years69.8 years
Region of Enrollment
France
61 participants59 participants120 participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
61 Participants59 Participants120 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
EG001
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
6 / 606 / 58
other
Total, other adverse events
48 / 6043 / 58
serious
Total, serious adverse events
2 / 603 / 58

Outcome results

Primary

Objective Response Rate (ORR) Determined by Clinical Palpation

Objective response rate is defined as the rate of participants with partial or complete responses according to RECIST V1.0. Complete response is defined as the disappearance of all target lesions and partial response is defined as at least a 30% decrease in the sum of the longest diameters (SLD) of target lesions, taking as reference the baseline SLD (RECIST V1.0.).

Time frame: 6 months

ArmMeasureValue (NUMBER)
Arm A (ANA)Objective Response Rate (ORR) Determined by Clinical Palpation58.9 percentage of participants
Arm B (FULV)Objective Response Rate (ORR) Determined by Clinical Palpation53.8 percentage of participants
Secondary

Objective Response Rate (ORR) Determined by Mammography

Objective response rate is defined as the rate of participants with partial or complete responses according to RECIST V1.0. Complete response is defined as the disappearance of all target lesions and partial response is defined as at least a 30% decrease in the sum of the longest diameters (SLD) of target lesions, taking as reference the baseline SLD (RECIST V1.0.).

Time frame: 6 months

Population: Out of 108 patients (56 arm A + 52 arm B) evaluable for efficacy (completed in flow chart) : 33 patients in Arm A and 34 in arm B with missing size at mammography.

ArmMeasureValue (NUMBER)
Arm A (ANA)Objective Response Rate (ORR) Determined by Mammography26.1 percentage of participants
Arm B (FULV)Objective Response Rate (ORR) Determined by Mammography27.8 percentage of participants
Secondary

Objective Response Rate (ORR) Determined by Ultrasound

Objective response rate is defined as the rate of participants with partial or complete responses according to RECIST V1.0. Complete response is defined as the disappearance of all target lesions and partial response is defined as at least a 30% decrease in the sum of the longest diameters (SLD) of target lesions, taking as reference the baseline SLD (RECIST V1.0.).

Time frame: 6 months

Population: Out of 108 patients (56 arm A + 52 arm B) evaluable for efficacy (completed in flow chart) : 19 patients in Arm A and 31 in arm B with missing size at ultrasound examination

ArmMeasureValue (NUMBER)
Arm A (ANA)Objective Response Rate (ORR) Determined by Ultrasound35.1 percentage of participants
Arm B (FULV)Objective Response Rate (ORR) Determined by Ultrasound52.4 percentage of participants
Secondary

Percentage of Participants With 5-year Relapse-Free Survival

Relapse-Free survival (RFS) is measured from the date of randomization to the date of the following events, whichever occurs first according to the DATECAN recommendations for breast cancer: * Invasive ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence/ progression ; * Local invasive recurrence/progression ; * Regional invasive recurrence/progression (N+: regional progression) ; * Appearance/Occurrence of Metastatic recurrence; * Death whatever the cause. Participants who did not experience events were censored at the date of last follow-up. RFS was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. No comparison test was performed between the two arms as this study is non-comparative.

Time frame: 5 years

ArmMeasureValue (NUMBER)
Arm A (ANA)Percentage of Participants With 5-year Relapse-Free Survival82.8 Percentage of participants
Arm B (FULV)Percentage of Participants With 5-year Relapse-Free Survival74.7 Percentage of participants
Secondary

Rate of Breast-conserving Surgery

breast-conserving surgery concerns patients who did not undergo mastectomy.

Time frame: 6 months

ArmMeasureValue (NUMBER)
Arm A (ANA)Rate of Breast-conserving Surgery60.7 percentage of participants
Arm B (FULV)Rate of Breast-conserving Surgery50.0 percentage of participants

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 28, 2026