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Background It is unknown to what extent cancer drugs approved in Switzerland by the Swissmedic fulfil criteria of clinical benefit according to the European Society of Medical Oncology Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale version 1.1 (ESMO-MCBS), the American Society of Clinical Oncology Value Framework version 2 (ASCO-VF) and the Swiss OLUtool v2 (OLUtool). Patients and methods An electronic search identified studies that led to marketing authorisations in Switzerland 2010–2019. Studies were evaluated according to ESMO-MCBS, ASCO-VF and OLUtool. Substantial benefit for ESMO-MCBS, was defined as a grade A or B for (neo)adjuvant intent and 4 or 5 for palliative intent. For ASCO-VF and OLUtool clinical benefit was defined as score ≥45 and A or B, respectively. Concordance between the frameworks was calculated with Cohen’s Kappa (κ). Factors associated with clinical benefit were evaluated by logistic regression. Results In the study period, 48 drugs were approved for 92 evaluable indications, based on 100 studies. Ratings for ESMO-MCBS, ASCO-VF and OLUtool could be performed for 100, 86, and 97 studies, respectively. Overall, 39 (39%), 44 (51%), 45 (46%) of the studies showed substantial clinical benefit according to ESMO-MCBS v1.1, ASCO-VF, OLUtool criteria, respectively. There was fair concordance between ESMO-MCBS and ASCO-VF in the palliative setting (κ = 0.31, P = 0.004) and moderate concordance between ESMO-MCBS and OLUtool (κ = 0.41, PConclusions At the time of approval, only around half of the trials supporting marketing authorisation of recently approved cancer drugs in Switzerland meet the criteria for substantial clinical benefit when evaluated with ESMO-MCBS, ASCO-VF or OLUtool. There was at best only moderate concordance between the grading systems.

BACKGROUND:Germline mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are the most frequent known hereditary causes of familial breast cancer. Little is known about the interaction of age at diagnosis, estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PgR) expression and outcomes in patients with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations. METHODS:A PubMed search identified publications exploring the association between BRCA mutations and clinical outcome. Hazard ratios (HR) for overall survival were extracted from multivariable analyses. Hazard ratios were weighted and pooled using generic inverse-variance and random-effect modeling. Meta-regression weighted by total study sample size was conducted to explore the influence of age, ER and PgR expression on the association between BRCA mutations and overall survival. RESULTS:A total of 16 studies comprising 10,180 patients were included in the analyses. BRCA mutations were not associated with worse overall survival (HR 1.06, 95% CI 0.84-1.34, p = 0.61). A similar finding was observed when evaluating the influence of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations on overall survival independently (BRCA1: HR 1.20, 95% CI 0.89-1.61, p = 0.24; BRCA2: HR 1.01, 95% CI 0.80-1.27, p = 0.95). Meta-regression identified an inverse association between ER expression and overall survival (β = -0.75, p = 0.02) in BRCA1 mutation carriers but no association with age or PgR expression (β = -0.45, p = 0.23 and β = 0.02, p = 0.97, respectively). No association was found for BRCA2 mutation status and age, ER, or PgR expression. CONCLUSION:ER-expression appears to be an effect modifier in patients with BRCA1 mutations, but not among those with BRCA2 mutations.

Hormone receptor positive breast cancer is characterized by the potential for disease recurrence many years after initial diagnosis. Endocrine therapy has been shown to reduce the risk of such recurrence, but the optimal duration of endocrine therapy remains unclear.We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to quantify the benefits and harms of extended adjuvant tamoxifen (>5 years of therapy) compared with adjuvant tamoxifen (5 years of therapy). Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were computed for disease recurrence, death and adverse events. Subgroup analyses by timing of recurrence and baseline lymph node and menopause status were carried.Five trials comprising 21,554 patients were included. Extended adjuvant tamoxifen was not associated with a significant reduction in the risk of recurrence (OR:0.89, 95% CI 0.76-1.05, p = 0.17). There was no association between extended adjuvant tamoxifen and all-cause death (OR:0.99, 95% CI 0.84-1.16, p = 0.88). There was an apparent reduction in risk of recurrence occurring after completion of extended adjuvant tamoxifen with little evidence of effect during therapy, however, this difference was not significant (p for difference 0.10). Subgroup analysis suggested that a greater effect size among lymph node positive patients compared with those who are lymph node negative (NNT: 25 vs. 49). There was no apparent difference in the effect between pre- and post-menopausal patients. Endometrial carcinoma was substantially more frequent with extended adjuvant tamoxifen (OR:2.06, 95% CI 1.65-2.58, p