Thomas Bachelot, Paul Cottu, Sylvie Chabaud, Florence Dalenc, Djelila Allouache, Suzette Delaloge, Jean-Philippe Jacquin, Julien Grenier, Laurence Venat Bouvet, Apurna Jegannathen, Mario Campone, Francesco Del Piano, Marc Debled, Anne-Claire Hardy-Bessard, Sylvie Giacchetti, Marie-Ange Mouret-Reynier, Philippe Barthelemy, Laure Kaluzinski, Audrey Mailliez, Eric Legouffe, Matthew Sephton, Judith Bliss, Jean-Luc Canon, Frederique Penault-Llorca, Jerome Lemonnier, David Cameron, Fabrice Andre, Rhodia Opérations, RHODIA, Imagerie Moléculaire et Stratégies Théranostiques (IMoST), Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Université Clermont Auvergne [2017-2020] (UCA [2017-2020]), Centre Jean Perrin [Clermont-Ferrand] (UNICANCER/CJP), UNICANCER, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Université Clermont Auvergne (UCA), Centre Léon Bérard [Lyon], Department of Medical Oncology, Institut Curie, Paris 75248, France, Institut Claudius Regaud, Institut Universitaire du Cancer de Toulouse - Oncopole (IUCT Oncopole - UMR 1037), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse (CHU Toulouse)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Centre Régional de Lutte contre le Cancer François Baclesse [Caen] (UNICANCER/CRLC), Normandie Université (NU)-UNICANCER-Tumorothèque de Caen Basse-Normandie (TCBN), Service Oncologie Médicale [Saint Priest en Jarez], Institut de Cancérologie Lucien Neuwirth [Saint Priest en Jarez], Laboratoire de Biologie du Développement (LBD), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut de Biologie Paris Seine (IBPS), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de Cancérologie de l'Ouest [Angers/Nantes] (UNICANCER/ICO), Institut Bergonié [Bordeaux], Centre Armoricain de Radiothérapie, d'Imagerie médicale et d'Oncologie [Plérin, Saint-Brieuc] (CARIO), Hôpital Saint-Louis, Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) (AP-HP)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7), ChemBioPharm, Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre Régional de Lutte contre le Cancer Oscar Lambret [Lille] (UNICANCER/Lille), Université de Lille-UNICANCER, Service d'hématologie et oncologie médicale, Université Montpellier 1 (UM1)-Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire [Montpellier] (CHRU Montpellier)-Hôpital Lapeyronie-Université de Montpellier (UM), Qingdao Agricultural University Qingdao, Institut Armand Frappier (INRS-IAF), Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique [Québec] (INRS)-Réseau International des Instituts Pasteur (RIIP), Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie Nantes-Angers (CRCNA), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire d'Angers (CHU Angers), PRES Université Nantes Angers Le Mans (UNAM)-PRES Université Nantes Angers Le Mans (UNAM)-Hôtel-Dieu de Nantes-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Hôpital Laennec-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Faculté de Médecine d'Angers-Centre hospitalier universitaire de Nantes (CHU Nantes), CRLCC Paul Papin, Université Catholique de Louvain = Catholic University of Louvain (UCL), Institut de Cancérologie de Lorraine - Alexis Vautrin [Nancy] (UNICANCER/ICL), Maladies chroniques, santé perçue, et processus d'adaptation (APEMAC), Université Paris Descartes - Paris 5 (UPD5)-Université de Lorraine (UL), École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique [EHESP] (EHESP), Laboratoire d'Ergonomie et d'Épidémiologie en Santé au Travail (LEEST), Université d'Angers (UA)-Centre Hospitalier Universitaire d'Angers (CHU Angers), and PRES Université Nantes Angers Le Mans (UNAM)-PRES Université Nantes Angers Le Mans (UNAM)-Institut de Veille Sanitaire (INVS)
PURPOSE Everolimus, an oral inhibitor of the mammalian target of rapamycin, improves progression-free survival in combination with endocrine therapy (ET) in postmenopausal women with aromatase inhibitor–resistant metastatic breast cancer. However, the benefit of adding everolimus to ET in the adjuvant setting in early breast cancer is unknown. PATIENTS AND METHODS In this randomized double-blind phase III study, women with high-risk, hormone receptor–positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2–negative primary breast cancer were randomly assigned to everolimus or placebo for 2 years combined with standard ET. Stratification factors included ET agent, receipt of neoadjuvant versus adjuvant chemotherapy, progesterone receptor status, duration of ET before random assignment, and lymph node involvement. The primary end point was disease-free survival (DFS). The trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (identifier: NCT01805271 ). RESULTS Between June 2013 and March 2020, 1,278 patients were randomly allocated to receive everolimus or placebo. At the first interim analysis, the trial was stopped for futility and a full analysis undertaken once data snapshot complete. One hundred forty-seven patients have had a DFS event reported and at 3 years, DFS did not differ between patients who received ET plus everolimus (88% [95% CI, 85 to 91]) or ET plus placebo (89% [95% CI, 86 to 91; hazard ratio, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.69 to 1.32; P = .77]). Grade ≥ 3 adverse events were reported in 22.9% of patients (29.9% with everolimus v 15.9% with placebo, P < .001). 53.4% everolimus-treated patients permanently discontinued experimental treatment early compared with placebo-treated 22.3%. CONCLUSION Among high-risk patients, everolimus added to adjuvant ET did not improve DFS. Tolerability was a concern, with more than half of patients stopping everolimus before study completion. Everolimus cannot be recommended in the adjuvant setting.