Patient database analysis of fulvestrant 500 mg in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer: A European perspective

Introduction Clinical guidelines recommend that patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive metastatic breast cancer (MBC) should be preferentially treated with endocrine therapy. Fulvestrant (a selective estrogen receptor degrader) is approved for use in these patients following relapse after, or relapse or progression during, antiestrogen therapy. This descriptive study analyzed European treatment patterns for HR-positive MBC in real-world clinical practice. Methods The IMS Oncology Analyzer (OA), a retrospective cancer treatment database reporting physician-entered patient case histories, was used to identify records for postmenopausal women with HR-positive MBC from April 1, 2004 to June 30, 2013 in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. Treatments were allocated to mutually exclusive categories (fulvestrant-containing, aromatase inhibitor [AI]-containing, tamoxifen-containing, or chemotherapy-containing regimens) and assessed by line of therapy for MBC. Fulvestrant use was also assessed pre- and post-2010 (when fulvestrant 500 mg dosing was approved). Results In total, 27,214 eligible patients were included (France: 6801; Germany: 6852; Italy: 7061; Spain: 6500). Chemotherapy-based regimens were the most common first-line treatments for MBC across all countries. Across countries, the proportion of patients initiating on each treatment category ranged from: chemotherapy, 57.5–70.4%; AI, 23.5–30.1%; tamoxifen, 2.7–9.8%; fulvestrant 0.8–2.6%. When administered, fulvestrant was usually given as first- or second-line treatment. Post-2010, more patients received fulvestrant 500 mg than fulvestrant 250 mg in France, Germany, and Spain; in Italy, more patients continued to receive fulvestrant 250 mg. Conclusion Most patients with HR-positive MBC receive chemotherapy over endocrine therapy; fulvestrant constitutes a small proportion of treatments for such patients.