‘They saved my life’: Vic mum shares Keynote 522 breast cancer drug trial success

A Victorian mum who had the chance to trial a new drug to treat triple-negative breast cancer has described it a “life saver”, sparking new hope of enhanced therapy options for women worldwide.

Victorian women who were part of a large international breast cancer drug trial say it has been a “life saver”.

They joined around 1100 women worldwide to trial the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab, sold as Keytruda.

Updated results of the randomised study six years on were presented at the European Society of Medical Oncology Annual Meeting with key results published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers say the drug plus chemotherapy has resulted in “significant improvements” for women with a high-risk, early triple-negative breast cancer.

They found meaningful improvement not only in preventing a recurrence, but in the overall survival following their high risk breast cancer diagnosis.

Keytruda has been added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme in Australia and is now the new standard of care nationally for women diagnosed with this type of breast cancer.

The drug works by stimulating the body’s immune system to fight cancer cells. It can be used with chemotherapy or other medicines before surgery and then continued alone after surgery to treat early stage, triple-negative breast cancer at high risk of recurrence.

Mum of three Kylie Pardo says given the opportunity to join the trial through her oncologist at Cabrini not only saved her, but gave her and husband Anthony the chance to complete their young family.

Kylie Pardo with children Henri, 8, Iva 10 and Seve, 3. She says the clinical trial was a ‘life saver’. Picture: David Caird

They were already parents to two children, Iva, who is now 10 and Henri, now 8, when she was diagnosed in 2017.

“Before I started chemo my oncologist said ‘is your family complete?’,” Mrs Pardo said. “Before the diagnosis it was 100 per cent yes, complete. Then I went, ‘I don’t know’, so she sent us off for egg collection just in case.”

Associate Professor Yoland Antill is a medical oncologist who helped recruit Victorian patients through Cabrini to join the trial called Keynote 522.

“I’m also a clinical trialist and clinical investigator for a number of trials relating to both cancer risk as well as cancer treatments,” she said.

“I chose a career that includes research and trials because we haven’t got a single cancer treatment today that hasn’t found its way into being a treatment because of the findings from previous clinical trials.”

Victorian mum Kylie Pardo joined the worldwide trial of the immunotherapy drug for triple-negative breast cancer. Picture: David Caird

Associate Professor Antill says as a medical oncologist she does not accept that current treatments are enough.

“We should continue to strive to improve the outcomes of treatments for patients who are diagnosed with cancers,” she said, adding before this study, systematic adjuvant treatment for triple-negative breast cancer was limited to chemotherapies.

“We know that the risks of recurrence from an early diagnosis from triple-negative breast cancer are increased compared to other types of breast cancer,” she said.

“So this study was offering an opportunity to explore the potential benefit of adding immune therapy to chemotherapy.”

She said while overall survival was an important outcome, the trial was also to make sure it improved the cancer outcomes in a safe manner.

For Mrs Pardo the decision by Associate Professor Antill and the Cabrini team to join Keynote 522 changed the course of her cancer diagnosis, and her family.

She has since welcomed a third child with husband Anthony. Mrs Pardo said when she was given the all clear they tried naturally and welcomed Seve, who is now 3.

Mrs Pardo said she was offered the chance to join the trial through her breast cancer surgeon at Cabrini, Jenny Senior, who suggested she might be a candidate for a drug trial that Assoc Prof Antill was running.

“I remember walking out of her rooms and Jenny said to me ‘you are going to be OK, we’ve got this’ so between those two wonderful women, they saved my life.”

For information on clinical trials at Cabrini, visit cabrini.com.au/research/clinicaltrials/

Originally published as ‘They saved my life’: Vic mum shares Keynote 522 breast cancer drug trial success