Dr. Pauline ROTTIER, medical oncologist at the Baclesse Center, presented a scientific poster at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), held December 9-12, 2025, in San Antonio, Texas.
A world-renowned conference in the field of breast cancer, SABCS brings together international experts every year to share major advances in basic, translational, and clinical research and to assess their impact on healthcare practices.
French data from the ESME cohort
Entitled "PARP inhibitors use in patients in germline PALB2 or somatic BRCA1/2 mutations carriers with metastatic breast cancer: Real life data from the ESME database," the poster presented by Dr. Pauline ROTTIER is based on data from the ESME-MBC cohort, a French national real-life cohort mainly including metastatic breast cancers. This is the first project led by the Baclesse Center based on this cohort, highlighting the institution's active involvement in national and collaborative clinical research.
Proven effectiveness in real-life conditions
The study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of PARP inhibitors in patients with metastatic breast cancer who carry somatic (tumor) mutations in BRCA1/2 or germline (constitutional) mutations in PALB2, outside the strict framework of clinical trials.
The results show that:
- PARP inhibitors are effective in real-world settings in these patients.
- The observed data are broadly similar to those reported in the international literature and clinical trials, particularly in terms of progression-free survival.
These results confirm the value of these treatments in this specific population and reinforce their place in the therapeutic strategy for metastatic breast cancer.
A contribution to research and clinical practice
This presentation at SABCS 2025 illustrates the Baclesse Center's commitment to producing data from everyday clinical practice, which is essential for better understanding the real impact of therapeutic innovations and guiding medical decisions that are as patient-centered as possible.
Key points: – A study from the ESME cohort, a French national real-world cohort, conducted as part of the first project led by the Baclesse Center using this database. – Confirmed efficacy of PARP inhibitors in real-life conditions in patients with metastatic breast cancer carrying somatic BRCA1/2 or germline PALB2 mutations. – Results comparable to those in the international literature, reinforcing the role of PARP inhibitors in the management of these patients beyond clinical trials.
What is a cohort?
In medical research, a cohort is a group of patients monitored over time, based on data collected as part of their routine care.
Unlike clinical trials, which include patients selected according to very strict criteria, cohorts allow for the analysis of real-life data, reflecting everyday medical practices.
The ESME-MBC cohort is a French national cohort dedicated to metastatic breast cancer, but also to ovarian cancer and metastatic bronchopulmonary carcinomas. It is a major tool for evaluating the efficacy and tolerance of treatments in real-world conditions, researching potential prognostic and predictive factors for treatment response, and better understanding their impact in patients representative of the French population receiving routine care.
