Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 3, 2026
Studying Triple Negative Breast Cancer Using Orthotopic Breast Cancer Model
Published on: March 20, 2020
Atezolizumab and Nab-Paclitaxel in Advanced Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Peter Schmid1, Sylvia Adams1, Hope S Rugo1
1From the Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London (P.S.); Perlmutter Cancer Center, New York University School of Medicine, New York (S.A.); the Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco (H.S.R.), and Genentech, South San Francisco (L.M., S.Y.C., R.F.) - both in California; University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany (A.S.); Centro de Pesquisa em Oncologia, Hospital São Lucas, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre (C.H.B.), and the University of São Paulo, São Paulo (R.H.) - both in Brazil; Aichi Cancer Center Hospital, Nagoya, Japan (H.I.); the Department of Medical Oncology, Institut Curie, Paris (V.D.); Seoul National University Hospital, Cancer Research Institute, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea (S.-A.I.); Florida Cancer Specialists and Research Institute, New Port Richey (G.S.W.); Roche, Basel, Switzerland (V.H., A.H.); Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston (E.P.W.); Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia (S.L.); and the Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore (L.A.E.).
Background:
Unresectable locally advanced or metastatic triple-negative (hormone-receptor-negative and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 [HER2]-negative) breast cancer is an aggressive disease with poor outcomes. Nanoparticle albumin-bound (nab)-paclitaxel may enhance the anticancer activity of atezolizumab.
Methods:
In this phase 3 trial, we randomly assigned (in a 1:1 ratio) patients with untreated metastatic triple-negative breast cancer to receive atezolizumab plus nab-paclitaxel or placebo plus nab-paclitaxel; patients continued the intervention until disease progression or an unacceptable level of toxic effects occurred. Stratification factors were the receipt or nonreceipt of neoadjuvant or adjuvant taxane therapy, the presence or absence of liver metastases at baseline, and programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression at baseline (positive vs. negative). The two primary end points were progression-free survival (in the intention-to-treat population and PD-L1-positive subgroup) and overall survival (tested in the intention-to-treat population; if the finding was significant, then it would be tested in the PD-L1-positive subgroup).
Results:
Each group included 451 patients (median follow-up, 12.9 months). In the intention-to-treat analysis, the median progression-free survival was 7.2 months with atezolizumab plus nab-paclitaxel, as compared with 5.5 months with placebo plus nab-paclitaxel (hazard ratio for progression or death, 0.80; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.69 to 0.92; P=0.002); among patients with PD-L1-positive tumors, the median progression-free survival was 7.5 months and 5.0 months, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.49 to 0.78; P<0.001). In the intention-to-treat analysis, the median overall survival was 21.3 months with atezolizumab plus nab-paclitaxel and 17.6 months with placebo plus nab-paclitaxel (hazard ratio for death, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.69 to 1.02; P=0.08); among patients with PD-L1-positive tumors, the median overall survival was 25.0 months and 15.5 months, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.45 to 0.86). No new adverse effects were identified. Adverse events that led to the discontinuation of any agent occurred in 15.9% of the patients who received atezolizumab plus nab-paclitaxel and in 8.2% of those who received placebo plus nab-paclitaxel.
Conclusions:
Atezolizumab plus nab-paclitaxel prolonged progression-free survival among patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer in both the intention-to-treat population and the PD-L1-positive subgroup. Adverse events were consistent with the known safety profiles of each agent. (Funded by F. Hoffmann-La Roche/Genentech; IMpassion130 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02425891 .).
Related Concept Videos
01:06Scalar and Vector Triple Products
The scalar triple product is the dot product of a vector with the cross product of two vectors....
01:23Negative Regulator Molecules
00:58Positive, Negative, and Zero Work
02:22Overview of Advanced Functional Groups
Functional groups are groups of atoms with specific chemical properties that occur within organic molecules and are sometimes denoted as “R”. Functional groups can “functionalize” a compound by enabling it to adopt different physical and chemical properties.
Types of Advanced Functional Groups
The table below summarizes some of the major functional groups in organic chemistry.
00:56Extraction: Advanced Methods
01:30Negative and Cognitive Symptoms of Schizophrenia
Negative Symptoms
Negative symptoms of schizophrenia manifest as deficits in normal emotional and behavioral functioning, profoundly impacting daily life. Individuals with schizophrenia often display a flat affect, characterized by a near-total absence of emotional expression,...