CoBrCa 2016 | The addition of platinum compounds to standard chemotherapy for breast cancer patients

Peter Schmid, FRCP, MD, PhD of the Barts Cancer Institute, London, UK, talks about recent studies where platinum compounds are added to chemotherapy to improve long-term outcome at the 2016 World Congress on Controversies in Breast Cancer (CoBrCa) in Barcelona, Spain. Prof Schmid explains that there has been good evidence from studies that show that the addition of platinum compounds to standard chemotherapy can significantly, in a meaningful way increase the rate of pathological complete response (CR). We also know from large studies from meta-analyses that an increased rate in pathologic complete response (pathCR) translates to long-term outcome. He therefore believes it is advisable for patients who are at a higher risk of triple negative disease to use this treatment as it will their improve long-term outcome.