Abstract
BACKGROUND: We investigated the efficacy and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients receiving either ribociclib plus endocrine therapy (ET) or chemotherapy with/without bevacizumab as first-line treatment of metastatic hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer (BC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this randomized, phase III study (RIBBIT), 38 patients diagnosed with metastatic HR-positive, HER2-negative BC with presence of visceral metastases recruited between May 2018 and December 2020 were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to either arm A (ribociclib + ET) or arm B (chemotherapy with/without bevacizumab) at 12 sites in Germany. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS). Secondary endpoints included overall response rate (ORR), overall survival (OS), patient-reported HRQoL, and frequency and type of adverse events. During study conduction, the recruitment rate was persistently and considerably lower than originally expected. Therefore, the recruitment was ended prematurely. The study was initially designed to enroll and randomize 158 patients. RESULTS: Median [95% CI] PFS was 27.3 months [19.1 - NA, parameter not estimable] in arm A and 15.8 months [8.2 - NA] in arm B. Complete responses were achieved only in arm A (n = 2, 10.5%). The ORR [95% CI] between arm A (57.9% [33.5-79.7]) and arm B (52.6% [28.9-75.6]) was comparable. Median OS [95% CI] was not reached in arm A, while in arm B median OS was 28.4 months [25.0 - NA]. Patients in arm A reported less burden by side-effects. No new safety signals emerged. CONCLUSION: Treatment of patients with visceral metastatic HR-positive, HER2-negative BC with ribociclib in combination with ET showed a tendency toward a more favorable clinical outcome. Despite small numbers of patients and sites, this head-to-head comparison with chemotherapy supports the use of ribociclib with ET in patients with visceral metastasis at risk of fast disease progression.