Matthew P. Goetz, MD

“WHAT’S IMPORTANT for clinicians to take away from this analysis is that there is clearly zero benefit of atezolizumab/nab-paclitaxel in patients with programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1)-negative disease. In PD-L1–positive patients, the combination improves progression-free survival and overall survival,” stated Matthew P. Goetz, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.

“In other tumor types, we can’t exclude a benefit of checkpoint inhibitor in PD-L1–negative tumors. These data demonstrate that for triple-negative breast cancer, PD-L1–positive expression is a firm biomarker for patient selection for atezolizumab/nab-paclitaxel in this population. However, we have a long way to go to improve outcomes for both patients with PD-L1–negative and PD-L1–positive triple-negative breast cancer patients,” he stated.

“This analysis firmly cements the need for PD-L1 testing in triple-negative breast cancer. If I were at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, I would not approve this combination for PD-L1–negative patients,” Dr. Goetz commented. ■

DISCLOSURE: Dr. Goetz is a consultant/advisor for Eli Lilly, Biotheranostics, Genomic Health, Novartis, Eisai, Context Therapeutics, and Sermonix Pharmaceuticals; and has received research funding from Pfizer and Eli Lilly.