# Palbociclib plus letrozole as first-line therapy in estrogen receptor-positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative advanced breast cancer with extended follow-up

Source: https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-paloma-2-breast-cancer-res-treat-2019-update/  
OnCo record `paper-paloma-2-breast-cancer-res-treat-2019-update` (Key paper). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Later report from the PALOMA-2 trial registered as NCT01740427, in Breast cancer research and treatment (2019); its title describes an updated or longer-term analysis.

## Summary

Purpose: In the initial PALOMA-2 (NCT01740427) analysis with median follow-up of 23 months, palbociclib plus letrozole significantly prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) in women with estrogen receptor-positive (ER+)/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-) advanced breast cancer (ABC) [hazard ratio (HR) 0.58; P < 0.001]. Herein, we report results overall and by subgroups with extended follow-up.

Methods: In this double-blind, phase 3 study, post-menopausal women with ER+/HER2- ABC who had not received prior systemic therapy for their advanced disease were randomized 2:1 to palbociclib-letrozole or placebo-letrozole. Endpoints include investigator-assessed PFS (primary), safety, and patient-reported outcomes (PROs).

Results: After a median follow-up of approximately 38 months, median PFS was 27.6 months for palbociclib-letrozole (n = 444) and 14.5 months for placebo-letrozole (n = 222) (HR 0.563; 1-sided P < 0.0001). All subgroups benefited from palbociclib treatment. The improvement of PFS with palbociclib-letrozole was maintained in the next 2 subsequent lines of therapy and delayed the use of chemotherapy (40.4 vs. 29.9 months for palbociclib-letrozole vs. placebo-letrozole). Safety data were consistent with the known profile. Patients' quality of life was maintained.

Conclusions: With approximately 15 months of additional follow-up, palbociclib plus letrozole continued to demonstrate improved PFS compared with placebo plus letrozole in the overall population and across all patient subgroups, while the safety profile remained favorable and quality of life was maintained. These data confirm that palbociclib-letrozole should be considered the standard of care for first-line therapy in patients with ER+/HER2- ABC, including those with low disease burden or long disease-free interval. Sponsored by Pfizer; ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01740427.

Indexed on Europe PMC as PubMed record 30632023 (DOI 10.1007/s10549-018-05125-4). Its abstract cites the registry id NCT01740427, which is how it was matched to this trial; no figure has been checked by an editor.

## Fields

- Kind: Key paper
- Last checked: 2026-09-22
- Tags: europepmc-ingest
- Journal: Breast cancer research and treatment
- Year: 2019
- DOI: 10.1007/s10549-018-05125-4
- Authors: Rugo HS, Finn RS, Diéras V, et al.
- What it means: A second publication from the PALOMA-2 trial, later than the first and described in its title as an update or longer-term analysis. Read it with the primary publication linked from the trial page; the record was linked automatically and its figures have not been checked by hand.
- Caveats: Matched to the trial by the registry id cited in the Europe PMC record; the summary reproduces the record's abstract and no figure has been verified against the full paper.; Chosen as a later report by words in its title (updated, long-term, final, overall survival or a year count), not by reading the paper.

## Sources

- Breast Cancer Res Treat 2019: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-018-05125-4
- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30632023/
- Europe PMC: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/30632023
- ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01740427: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT01740427

## Connected records

- trials: [PALOMA-2](https://onco.cc/trials/paloma-2/)
- journals: [Breast cancer research and treatment](https://onco.cc/journals/breast-cancer-research-and-treatment/)

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