In this phase 3 trial of early-stage triple-negative breast cancer, adding carboplatin to taxanes significantly improved 5-year event-free survival with a hazard ratio of 0.67. The addition was associated with higher rates of grade 3 or greater hematologic toxicities but did not result in clinically meaningful quality of life deterioration, supporting carboplatin’s favorable risk-benefit profile in this setting.
Study
|
Randomized, open-label, phase 3 trial [KCSG BR 15-1 PEARLY] |
| Stage II or III triple-negative breast cancer in neoadjuvant or adjuvant settings |
| Doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide followed by taxane (control, n=434) vs carboplatin plus taxane (carboplatin, n=434)
|
Efficacy
|
ORR (pCR in neoadjuvant setting): 46.0% vs 39.4% (carboplatin vs. control arm) (P=0.12) |
| 5yr EFS: 82.3% vs 75.1% (HR 0.67 [0.49-0.92]) |
| 5yr OS: 90.7% vs 87.0% (HR 0.65 [0.42-1.02])
|
Safety
|
Grade >=3 AEs: febrile neutropenia (24.7% vs 17.1%), anemia (11.5% vs 2.1%), thrombocytopenia (3.5% vs 0.5%), nausea (3.5% vs 2.1%) |
| Serious AEs: 16.4% vs 14.1% |
| Treatment-related deaths: 1 (pneumonia) vs 2 (septic shock, suicide)
|
Ann Oncol. Published online 2026-05
http://doi.org/10.1016/j.annonc.2026.05.703
Reviewed by Ulas D. Bayraktar, MD on Jun 17, 2026
