At the 14th St. Gallen International Breast Cancer Conference 2015, Prof Geoff Lindeman (The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Victoria, Australia) discusses the importance of the new therapeutic targets of BCL-2, BH3 mimetics, in oestrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer, including the challenges in the development process and use in clinical practice.
Preclinical models of ER+ breast cancer demonstrate that BH3 mimetics combined with tamoxifen improves the effectiveness of hormone therapy. Clinical studies of the BH3 mimetic, ABT-199, are beginning in ER+ breast cancer.