Expert consensus on off-label use of small molecule anti-angiogenic drugs in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the world, and 5-year survival rate of metastatic breast cancer is about 20%. The treatment of metastatic breast cancer is mainly chemotherapy, endocrine therapy and targeted therapy. However, after multiline treatment, patients with MBC especially the triple negative breast cancer face the problem of drug resistance. Tumor angiogenesis theory suggests that blocking angiogenesis can inhibit tumor growth and migration. Based on this, angiogenesis treatment strategy is proposed. Antiangiogenic drugs mainly include biological macromolecular drugs targeting vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) or vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) and small molecule VEGFR inhibitors. Angiogenesis is known to play a key role in the growth and metastasis of breast cancer. Therefore, anti-angiogenetic therapy has potential in metastatic breast cancer patients. Since the approval of tumor drug indications by NPMA in China is often later than the release of the latest research data, the National Health Commission issued "the guiding principles for the clinical application of new antitumor drugs" in 2020. The principle pointed out that under special circumstances such as the absence of better treatment, medical institutions should manage the usage of drugs that are not clearly defined in the instructions but have evidence-based data. Based on the latest research progress in breast cancer, the consensus writing expert group collated published reports, international academic conferences, conducted analysis, discussion and summary, collected data on the use of small molecule anti-vascular targeting drugs for advanced breast cancer, and formulated "expert consensus on the application of small molecule anti-angiogenic drugs in the treatment of advanced breast cancer" . For clinicians' reference only.