A domestic study has found that adding carboplatin, a platinum-based chemotherapy drug, to standard chemotherapy can reduce the risk of recurrence and improve survival rates in patients with operable triple-negative breast cancer.
The findings provide clinical evidence supporting the use of carboplatin combination therapy as a standard treatment option, resolving ongoing debate over its effectiveness through a large-scale Phase 3 clinical trial.
A research team led by Professors Joo Hyuk Sohn and Gun Min Kim from the Department of Medical Oncology at Yonsei Cancer Center reported on Aug. 5 that survival outcomes significantly improved among patients with stage 2-3 non-metastatic triple-negative breast cancer when carboplatin was added to standard chemotherapy.
Triple-negative breast cancer is a subtype of breast cancer that lacks all three major receptors: estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). It accounts for approximately 10% to 15% of all breast cancer cases and is known for having a higher risk of recurrence, faster progression, and poorer prognosis compared with other breast cancer subtypes. Because hormone therapy and HER2-targeted therapies cannot be used, chemotherapy remains the primary treatment option.
Recently, treatment regimens combining the immunotherapy drug Keytruda with chemotherapy regimens containing carboplatin before and after surgery have become a standard approach. However, clinical evidence supporting the specific benefit of adding carboplatin had remained insufficient, leading to continued debate.
The research team conducted a multicenter Phase 3 clinical trial involving 868 patients with stage 2-3 triple-negative breast cancer across 22 medical institutions in South Korea from 2016 to 2020.
Patients were divided into two groups: 434 patients received standard chemotherapy consisting of anthracycline, cyclophosphamide, and taxane-based treatments (Group A), while another 434 patients received the same chemotherapy regimen with additional carboplatin (Group B).
After a median follow-up period of approximately 57 months, the event-free survival rate — measuring the proportion of patients who experienced no disease progression, recurrence, or death during treatment and follow-up — was 82.3% in the carboplatin combination group, compared with 75.1% in the standard treatment group, representing a 7.2 percentage-point improvement.
Professor Kim said, “This study provides definitive evidence that adding carboplatin to standard chemotherapy reduces recurrence rates and improves survival outcomes,” adding that “it establishes the foundation for carboplatin-containing therapy to become a standard treatment approach.”
Professor Sohn said, “This study was presented as an oral presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting and has been incorporated into U.S. treatment guidelines,” adding that “it is significant as the world’s first confirmatory Phase 3 clinical trial on carboplatin use conducted entirely by Korean researchers.”
The findings were published in the latest issue of the international medical journal Annals of Oncology.