Treatment consequence and adverse events of cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitors on patients with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Although some studies have indicated that CDK4/6 inhibitors are beneficial for the progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in breast cancer, evidence regarding the assessment of clinical response remains insufficient. Therefore, this study aims not only to evaluate the efficacy and safety of CDK4/6 inhibitors combined with endocrine therapy in HR(+)/HER2(−) metastatic breast cancer, but also to analyze the objective response rate (ORR) and clinical benefit rate (CBR), providing comprehensive clinical outcome insights. A literature search was performed in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov focusing on studies published before 2022. The meta-analysis followed PRISMA guidelines and used RevMan 5.3 to conduct the analysis. Eleven clinical trials published between 2015 and 2022 were included in our meta-analysis, with a total of 5572 eligible patients. This meta-analysis found that HR(+)/HER2(−) metastatic breast cancer treated with CDK4/6 inhibitors plus endocrine therapy can significantly improve progression-free survival(PFS) (HR: 0.55; p p p p p This meta-analysis highlights the improvement of PFS, OS, ORR, and CBR in HR(+)/HER2(−) metastatic breast cancer for CDK4/6 inhibitors, with manageable and reversible toxicities. Clinicians should be aware of hematological toxicities, liver function abnormalities, and venous thromboembolism when using CDK4/6 inhibitors. These findings make CDK4/6 inhibitors a pivotal treatment option. CDK4/6 inhibitor combined with endocrine therapy can prolong progression-free survival, overall survival, objective response rate, and clinical benefit rate, and decrease progressive disease rate. Hematological toxicities are the main concern for CDK4/6 inhibitors. Clinicians still need to be aware of adverse events such as abnormal liver function and venous thromboembolism. CDK4/6 inhibitors plus endocrine therapy improved PFS in all subgroups, but no difference in OS was observed in Asians, the number of metastasis sites, and patients using letrozole compared to endocrine therapy alone. CDK4/6 inhibitors plus endocrine therapy is a pivotal treatment option for HR(+)/HER2(−) breast cancer based on their efficacy and safety.