“Deborah agreed to take part in a trial as she was keen to help other cancer patients in the future. "If taking part in a trial means others might be helped then I’m very happy with that."
A trial of fulvestrant with vistusertib or everolimus for advanced breast cancer (MANTA)
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Cancer type:
Breast cancer
Status:
Results
Phase:
Phase 2
This trial compared fulvestrant on its own with fulvestrant alongside either vistusertib or everolimus. It was for people with breast cancer that had come back after treatment or spread to another part of the body, and was oestrogen receptor positive.
More about this trial
Breast cancer that has receptors for the female hormone oestrogen is called oestrogen receptor (ER) positive breast cancer. Doctors can treat ER positive breast cancer with hormone therapy such as fulvestrant (Faslodex). It stops the oestrogen getting to the cancer cells and this helps stop the cancer growing.
In this trial, researchers wanted to find out if having either everolimus (Afinitor) or vistusertib (AZD2014) with fulvestrant improves treatment.
Vistusertib and everolimus are both cancer growth blockers called mTOR inhibitors. They stop signals that cancer cells use to divide and grow.
When this trial was done vistusertib was a new drug. But doctors sometimes used everolimus as part of treatment for people with ER positive breast cancer.
The researchers wanted to compare fulvestrant on its own with:
- fulvestrant and continuous vistusertib
- fulvestrant and intermittent vistusertib
- fulvestrant and everolimus
The main aim of this trial was to find out which treatment was best for ER positive breast cancer that has come back after treatment or spread to another part of the body.
Summary of results
This trial showed that fulvestrant and everolimus worked better than fulvestrant alone or fulvestrant and vistusertib.
The research team recruited patients between 2014 and 2016, and presented the results at a conference in 2017.
Results
This trial recruited more than 300 women with breast cancer that had come back after treatment or had spread to another part of the body. They all had oestrogen receptor (ER) positive cancer.
The women taking part were put into 1 of 4 groups at random:
- 66 had fulvestrant alone
- 101 had fulvestrant and vistusertib every day (continuous)
- 95 had fulvestrant and vistusertib for 2 days out of every 7 (intermittent)
- 64 had fulvestrant and everolimus
The research looked at how long it was before the cancer started to grow. They found it was:
- 4.6 months for those who had fulvestrant alone
- 7.5 months for those who had fulvestrant and continuous vistusertib
- 7.6 months for those who had fulvestrant and intermittent vistusertib
- 12.1 months for those who had fulvestrant and everolimus
They also looked at how many women’s breast cancer stopped growing or got smaller and found it was:
- more than 2 out of 10 people (25%) who had fulvestrant alone
- about 3 out of 10 people (30%) who had fulvestrant and vistusertib
- just over 4 out of 10 people (41%) who had fulvestrant and everolimus
Side effects
Many of the women who took part had side effects, but some were mild or didn’t last too long.
The most common side effects for women who had vistusertib or everolimus included:
- rash
- sore mouth (stomatitis)
- weakness (asthenia)
- feeling or being sick
- diarrhoea
- loss of appetite
The group who had continuous vistusertib generally had more side effects that could be classed as severe. The most common more severe side effect in this group was a rash.
The women who had fulvestrant alone had fewer side effects than women in the other groups. And they didn’t have any that were classed as serious, they were all mild or moderate.
The side effects in this group included weakness, headache and feeling sick.
Conclusion
The research team concluded that fulvestrant and everolimus worked better than fulvestrant alone, or fulvestrant and vistusertib. And that there is no significant benefit of having vistusertib with fulvestrant.
Where this information comes from
We have based this summary on information from the research team. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists (peer reviewed 
) but may not have been published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the research team. We have not analysed the data ourselves.
) but may not have been published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the research team. We have not analysed the data ourselves. Recruitment start:
Recruitment end:
How to join a clinical trial
Please note: In order to join a trial you will need to discuss it with your doctor, unless otherwise specified.
Please note - unless we state otherwise in the summary, you need to talk to your doctor about joining a trial.
Chief Investigator
Professor Peter Schmid
Supported by
AstraZeneca
Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC)
NIHR Clinical Research Network: Cancer
Queen Mary University of London
Freephone 0808 800 4040
Last review date
CRUK internal database number:
11638
Please note - unless we state otherwise in the summary, you need to talk to your doctor about joining a trial.
Deborah wanted to help other breast cancer patients in the future
