Promising New Combinations Extend Progression-Free Survival in Advanced Breast Cancer: Elacestrant Demonstrates Benefit
Published: December 14, 2025
Keywords: elacestrant, metastatic breast cancer, ER-positive breast cancer, HER2-negative breast cancer, ELEVATE study, everolimus, abemaciclib, endocrine therapy, breast cancer treatment, progression-free survival, ESR1 mutation
Primary Topic: Recent clinical trial results demonstrating the efficacy of elacestrant in combination therapies for advanced breast cancer.
Primary Keyword: elacestrant
Recent findings presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) 2025 offer renewed hope for patients battling estrogen receptor-positive (ER+), HER2-negative locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer.Data from the Phase 2 ELEVATE study, conducted by Menarini Group and its subsidiary Stemline Therapeutics Inc., reveal that combining the oral medication elacestrant with either everolimus or abemaciclib substantially improves progression-free survival (PFS) in patients whose cancer has progressed despite endocrine therapy.
these results are notably encouraging as they suggest a potential pathway to overcome resistance mechanisms that frequently develop in ER+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer,even in patients who have previously received CDK4/6 inhibitors. The study focused on a population of patients facing a challenging prognosis, highlighting the potential of these combinations to extend the time to disease progression and improve quality of life.
ELEVATE Study: Key Findings
The ELEVATE study investigated the safety and effectiveness of elacestrant when paired with two different targeted therapies: everolimus and abemaciclib.Elacestrant is a selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD), a class of drugs designed to block the effects of estrogen on breast cancer cells.
* Elacestrant + Everolimus: In the cohort receiving elacestrant (345 mg daily) in combination with everolimus (7.5 mg daily), the median progression-free survival reached 8.3 months (95% Confidence Interval: 4.0 – 10.2 months) across all patients (n=50).
* Elacestrant + Abemaciclib: The combination of elacestrant (345 mg daily) and abemaciclib (150 mg twice daily) demonstrated a more substantial benefit, achieving a median progression-free survival of 14.3 months (95% Confidence Interval: 7.3 – 16.6 months) in the 60 patients enrolled in this arm of the study.
Importantly, the observed benefits were consistent irrespective of the presence of ESR1 mutations, a common mechanism of resistance to endocrine therapies. This suggests that elacestrant-based combinations may be effective for a broader range of patients.
Safety and Tolerability
The safety profiles observed in the ELEVATE study were consistent with what is already known about elacestrant, everolimus, and abemaciclib individually. Researchers reported no new or unexpected safety signals, indicating that the combinations were generally well-tolerated by
Keep reading