Dr. Matthew Ellis Discusses the FALCON Trial

Matthew J. Ellis, MD, PhD, professor, Department of Medicine, Oncology Division, Breast Oncology Section, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri and the Siteman Cancer Center, discusses the ongoing phase III FALCON trial.

The FALCON trial is coparing anastrozole to the newly approved, high-dose fulvestrant (500mg) for patients with treatment-naïve metastatic breast cancer. The unmet need here, Ellis says, is that when these patients present, physicians aim to keep them away from chemotherapy as long as possible. The idea of the trial is to see if the high dose of fulvestrant will maintain disease control for a longer period of time than patients receiving anastrozole.

Ellis says this will probably be a positive trial because an early study was conducted that showed a larger progression-free survival benefit for the high dose of fulvestrant than anastrozole. However, this was only a randomized phase II trial, which needs to be confirmed in larger numbers.

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