Lynparza demonstrated clinically meaningful prolonged survival benefit in early breast cancer in OlympiA Phase III trial

87.5% of patients treated with Lynparza were alive at six years vs. 83.2% in the comparator arm. First and only PARP inhibitor to improve overall survival in early breast cancer.

Updated results from the OlympiA Phase III trial showed AstraZeneca and MSD’s Lynparza (olaparib) demonstrated sustained, clinically meaningful improvements in overall survival (OS), invasive disease-free survival (IDFS) and distant disease-free survival (DDFS) at six years for patients with germline BRCA-mutated (gBRCAm) HER2-negative high-risk early breast cancer.

These results were presented today at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium 2024 (SABCS) (#GS1-09) and build on the positive primary results published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

At a median follow-up of 6.1 years in eligible patients, who had completed local treatment and standard neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy, results showed Lynparza reduced the risk of death by 28% (hazard ratio [HR] 0.72; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.56-0.93) versus placebo. In addition, 87.5% of patients treated with Lynparza remained alive versus 83.2% of those on placebo.

Lynparza also demonstrated sustained and clinically meaningful improvements in the primary and secondary endpoints of IDFS and DDFS. Lynparza reduced the risk of invasive breast cancer recurrence, second cancers or death by 35% (HR 0.65; 95% CI; 0.53-0.78) and reduced the risk of distant disease recurrence or death by 35% (HR 0.65; 95% CI; 0.53-0.81) versus placebo. The benefit with Lynparza was consistent across all key subgroups, including patients with high-risk, hormone-receptor-positive disease.

Judy E. Garber, Chief of the Division of Cancer Genetics and Prevention at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and co-principal investigator of the trial said: “These exciting long-term data from OlympiA confirm that adjuvant treatment with olaparib for one year continues to deliver clinically meaningful survival benefit for patients with germline BRCA-mutated high-risk HER2-negative early breast cancer even after six years, with benefit persisting in all subgroups and with toxicity and pregnancy data reassuring for this generally younger group. These data reinforce the importance of germline BRCA testing at the time of diagnosis, so we can identify all eligible patients who may benefit from treatment with olaparib as early as possible.”

Susan Galbraith, Executive Vice President, Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca, said: “Two years ago, Lynparza became the first and only PARP inhibitor to demonstrate a survival benefit in germline BRCA-mutated, HER2-negative and high-risk early-stage breast cancer. To see this benefit continue after six years of follow-up is tremendous for patients and reinforces how Lynparza is continuing to transform the treatment of BRCA-mutated early-stage breast cancer.”

Eliav Barr, Senior Vice President, Head of Global Clinical Development and Chief Medical Officer, Merck Research Laboratories, said: “The durable long-term efficacy seen in the OlympiA study reinforces Lynparza as an important treatment option for those living with this truly challenging, very aggressive form of the disease.”

Summary of results

The safety and tolerability profile of Lynparza in this trial was in line with that observed in prior clinical trials and no new safety signals were identified with longer follow-up. No evidence of an increased risk of myelodysplastic syndrome or acute myeloid leukaemia was observed compared to those on placebo.

The OlympiA trial is coordinated by the Breast International Group (BIG) in partnership with NRG Oncology, the US National Cancer Institute (NCI), the Frontier Science & Technology Research Foundation (FSTRF), AstraZeneca and MSD.¹

Lynparza is approved in the US, EU, Japan, and many other countries for the treatment of gBRCAm, HER2-negative high-risk early breast cancer. Lynparza is also approved in the US, EU, Japan, and many other countries for the treatment of patients with gBRCAm, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer. In the EU, this indication also includes patients with locally advanced breast cancer.

Notes

Early breast cancer

Early breast cancer is defined as cancer confined to the breast with or without regional lymph node involvement, and the absence of distant metastatic disease.² In the US, the 5-year survival rate is 99.6% for localised breast cancer (only found in the breast area) and 86.7% for regional breast cancer (cancer that has spread outside the breast to nearby structures or lymph nodes).³ Despite advancements in the treatment of early breast cancer, up to 30% of patients with high-risk clinical and/or pathologic features recur within the first few years and patients with gBRCA mutations are more likely to be diagnosed at a younger age than those without these mutations.^4,5

Breast cancer is one of the most biologically diverse tumour types with various factors fuelling its development and progression.⁶ The discovery of biomarkers in the development of breast cancer has greatly impacted scientific understanding of the disease.⁷

OlympiA

OlympiA is a phase III, double-blind, parallel group, placebo-controlled, multicentre trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of Lynparza tablets versus placebo as a 12-month adjuvant treatment for adult patients with gBRCAm HER2-negative early breast cancer, who have completed neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy.¹ The primary endpoint of the trial is invasive disease-free survival defined as time from randomisation to date of first loco-regional or distant recurrence or new cancer or death from any cause. Key secondary endpoints include distant disease-free survival and overall survival, which is defined as time from randomisation until documented evidence of first distant recurrence of breast cancer or death without distant recurrence.¹

Breast International Group (BIG)

BIG is an international not-for-profit organisation for academic breast cancer research groups from around the world, based in Brussels, Belgium.

Founded by leading European opinion leaders in 1999, the organisation aims to address fragmentation in breast cancer research and now represents a network of over 50 like-minded research groups affiliated with specialised hospitals, research centres and leading experts across approximately 70 countries on six continents.

BIG’s research is supported in part by its philanthropy unit, known as BIG against breast cancer, which is used to interact with the general public and donors, and to raise funds for BIG’s purely academic breast cancer trials and research programmes.

Frontier Science & Technology Research Foundation (FSTRF)

FSTRF is a non-profit, research organisation which supports research networks, pharmaceutical companies and investigators to conduct scientifically meaningful high-quality clinical trials. The OlympiA trial involved research staff in the US and in the Affiliate office in Scotland.

FSTRF works with scientists and technicians in more than 800 laboratories, universities and medical centres around the world to provide a comprehensive range of research services throughout the clinical trial process including design, analysis and reporting.

Through its work, FSTRF aims to advance the application of statistical science and practice and data management techniques in science, healthcare and education.

NRG Oncology

NRG Oncology is a network group funded by the US National Cancer Institute (NCI), a part of the National Institutes of Health. NRG Oncology brings together the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP), the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG), and the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG), with the mission to improve the lives of cancer patients by conducting practice-changing multi-institutional clinical and translational research. NRG Oncology sponsored OlympiA in the US and collaborated with the other adult cancer clinical trials research groups funded by the NCI, Alliance, ECOG/ACRIN and the Southwest Oncology Group. The NCI and AstraZeneca are collaborating under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement between the parties.

BRCA

BRCA1 and BRCA2 are human genes that produce proteins responsible for repairing damaged DNA and play an important role maintaining the genetic stability of cells.⁸ When either of these genes is mutated or altered such that its protein product either is not made or does not function correctly, DNA damage may not be repaired properly, and cells become unstable. As a result, cells are more likely to develop additional genetic alterations that can lead to cancer and confer sensitivity to PARP inhibitors including Lynparza.^8-11

Lynparza

Lynparza is a first-in-class PARP inhibitor and the first targeted treatment to block DNA damage response (DDR) in cells/tumours harbouring a deficiency in homologous recombination-related (HRR) genes, such as those with mutations in BRCA1 and/or BRCA2, or those where deficiency is induced by other agents (such as new hormonal agents [NHAs]).

Inhibition of PARP with Lynparza leads to the trapping of PARP bound to DNA single-strand breaks, stalling of replication forks, their collapse and the generation of DNA double-strand breaks and cancer cell death. Lynparza may also help enhance immunogenicity and increase the impact of anti-tumour immune responses.

Lynparza is currently approved in a number of countries across multiple tumour types, including maintenance treatment of platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer and as both monotherapy and in combination with bevacizumab for the 1st-line maintenance treatment of BRCA-mutated (BRCAm) and homologous recombination repair deficient (HRD)-positive advanced ovarian cancer, respectively; for gBRCAm metastatic pancreatic cancer; in combination with abiraterone for the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) when chemotherapy is not clinically indicated (EU only) and for BRCAm mCRPC (US and Japan); as monotherapy for HRR gene-mutated mCRPC in patients who have progressed on prior NHA treatment (BRCAm only in the EU and Japan); and in combination with durvalumab following durvalumab plus chemotherapy as 1st-line treatment for advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer that is mismatch repair proficient (EU and Japan). In China, Lynparza is approved for the treatment of BRCA-mutated mCRPC as well as 1st-line maintenance treatment with bevacizumab for HRD-positive advanced ovarian cancer.

Lynparza, which is being jointly developed and commercialised by AstraZeneca and MSD, has been used to treat over 140,000 patients worldwide. Lynparza has a broad clinical trial development programme, and AstraZeneca and MSD are working together to understand how it may affect multiple PARP-dependent tumours as a monotherapy and in combination across multiple cancer types. Lynparza is the foundation of AstraZeneca’s industry-leading portfolio of potential new medicines targeting DDR mechanisms in cancer cells.

The AstraZeneca and MSD strategic oncology collaboration

In July 2017, AstraZeneca and Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, US, known as MSD outside the US and Canada, announced a global strategic oncology collaboration to co-develop and co-commercialise Lynparza, the world’s first PARP inhibitor, and Koselugo (selumetinib), a mitogen-activated protein kinase (MEK) inhibitor, for multiple cancer types.

Working together, the companies will develop Lynparza and Koselugo in combination with other potential new medicines and as monotherapies. The companies will develop Lynparza and Koselugo in combination with their respective PD-L1 and PD-1 medicines independently.

AstraZeneca in oncology

AstraZeneca is leading a revolution in oncology with the ambition to provide cures for cancer in every form, following the science to understand cancer and all its complexities to discover, develop and deliver life-changing medicines to patients.

The Company's focus is on some of the most challenging cancers. It is through persistent innovation that AstraZeneca has built one of the most diverse portfolios and pipelines in the industry, with the potential to catalyse changes in the practice of medicine and transform the patient experience.

AstraZeneca has the vision to redefine cancer care and, one day, eliminate cancer as a cause of death.

AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca (LSE/STO/Nasdaq: AZN) is a global, science-led biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialisation of prescription medicines in Oncology, Rare Diseases, and BioPharmaceuticals, including Cardiovascular, Renal & Metabolism, and Respiratory & Immunology. Based in Cambridge, UK, AstraZeneca's innovative medicines are sold in more than 125 countries and used by millions of patients worldwide. Please visit astrazeneca.com and follow the Company on social media @AstraZeneca.

Contacts

For details on how to contact the Investor Relations Team, please click here. For Media contacts, click here.

References

1. ClinicalTrials.gov. Olaparib as Adjuvant Treatment in Patients with Germline BRCA Mutated High Risk HER2 Negative Primary Breast Cancer (OlympiA). Available at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02032823. Accessed December 2024.
2. National Cancer Institute. Early-stage breast cancer. Available at: https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/early-stage-breast-cancer. Accessed December 2024.
3. National Cancer Institute: Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program. Cancer Stat Facts: Female Breast Cancer. Available at: https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/breast.html. Accessed December 2024.
4. O'Shaughnessy J, et al. Prevalence of germline BRCA mutations in HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer: global results from the real-world, observational BREAKOUT study. Breast Cancer Research. 2020;22(114).
5. Colleoni M, et al. Annual Hazard Rates of Recurrence for Breast Cancer During 24 Years of Follow-Up: Results From the International Breast Cancer Study Group Trials I to V. J Clin Oncol. 2016 Mar 20; 34(9):927–935.
6. Yersal O, Barutca S. Biological subtypes of breast cancer: Prognostic and therapeutic implications. World J Clin Oncol. 2014;5(3):412-424.
7. Rivenbark AG, et al. Molecular and Cellular Heterogeneity in Breast Cancer: Challenges for Personalized Medicine. Am J Pathol. 2013;183:1113-1124.
8. Roy R, et al. BRCA1 and BRCA2: different roles in a common pathway of genome protection. Nat Rev Cancer. 2016;12(1):68-78.
9. Wu J, et al. The role of BRCA1 in DNA damage response. Protein Cell 2010;1(2):117-123.
10. Gorodetska I, et al. BRCA Genes: The Role in Genome Stability, Cancer Stemness and Therapy Resistance. Journal of Cancer. 2019;10:2109-2127.
11. Li H, et al. PARP inhibitor resistance: the underlying mechanisms and clinical implications. Molecular Cancer. 2020;19:1-16.