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First results from the phase II GELATO study evaluating atezolizumab plus carboplatin presented at the ESMO Breast Cancer Virtual Congress 2021 demonstrated clinical benefit in patients with metastatic invasive lobular breast cancer, particularly in patients with triple-negative invasive lobular...
Long-term analysis of the Short-HER trial showed that 9 weeks of adjuvant trastuzumab conveyed benefits comparable to a 1-year course in patients with early HER2-positive breast cancer deemed to be at low or intermediate risk for disease recurrence. High-risk patients, however, derived considerably ...
In the phase III KAITLIN trial, replacing adjuvant taxane and trastuzumab with ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) did not result in a significant improvement in invasive disease-free survival in the node-positive or intent-to-treat population, as reported by Harbeck et al at the 2020 ASCO Virtual...
The finding that breast tumors can evolve to express low HER2 potentially increases the number of patients who can benefit from new investigational agents, typically novel antibody-drug conjugate therapies, that are currently in clinical trials for HER2-low tumors. This research was presented by...
It is incredible to reflect upon the scientific advances in the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer over the past 23 years. Once considered the worst subtype of breast cancer, HER2-positive disease is now associated with the best long-term outcomes in this age of targeted treatments. With a...
As reported in JAMA Oncology by Hope S. Rugo, MD, of the University of California San Francisco Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, and colleagues, the phase III SOPHIA trial has shown significantly prolonged progression-free survival with margetuximab-cmkb plus chemotherapy vs...
As reported in The Lancet by Javier Cortes, MD, of the International Breast Cancer Center, Quiron Group, Madrid and Barcelona, and colleagues, the second interim analysis of the phase III -KEYNOTE-355 trial has shown that the addition of pembrolizumab to chemotherapy improved progression-free...
John Marshall, MD, of the Lombardi Cancer Center at Georgetown University, and his wife, Liza Marshall, a breast cancer survivor, talk about the impact of her diagnosis, how it changed their view of cancer care and the way clinicians communicate, and why their memoir has an important message.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Turan et al found the presence of germline BRCA pathogenic variants was associated with diminished ovarian reserve in young women, particularly in those diagnosed with breast cancer and those with BRCA1 variants. Study Details The individual...
Recent clinical trials have been encouraging for the neoadjuvant or adjuvant use of immune checkpoint inhibitors in triple-negative breast cancer, but is this approach ready for the clinic? This question was addressed at PER’s Miami Breast Cancer Conference, held virtually this year, by Adam M....
Concerns about fertility often influence how young women with breast cancer approach treatment decisions and are a reason for forgoing or delaying hormone-blocking therapy, according to findings from a recent study published by Sella et al in the journal Cancer. The findings reinforce the need for...
In an analysis from the Japanese RESPECT trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Taira et al found that adjuvant trastuzumab monotherapy was associated with better health-related quality of life (QoL) vs trastuzumab plus standard chemotherapy for at least 12 months in women aged 70 to...
Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act was associated with significant increases in breast reconstruction among non-Hispanic Black women, achieving parity at times with non-Hispanic White women, according to a new study presented by Sharon Lum, MD, and colleagues at the American Society...
Survivors of low-risk breast cancer may experience wide-ranging and significant physical and psychological symptoms after cancer treatment, according to a new study presented by Jessica Schumacher, PhD, and colleagues at the American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBrS) Annual Meeting. Researchers...
Nonsurgical breast cancer cryoablation, which destroys tumor cells by exposing them to subfreezing temperatures, is proving to be an effective alternative to surgery for small breast tumors with low-risk features in women older than age 60. These were the early findings from 3-year results of the...
The COVID-19 pandemic rapidly altered breast cancer treatment approaches, with a significant rise in neoadjuvant endocrine therapy for estrogen receptor–positive tumors, enabling immediate evidence-based treatment of women with an extremely common form of breast cancer, while delaying surgery and...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Aditya Bardia, MD, of the Division of Medical Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, and colleagues, the phase III ASCENT trial has shown prolonged progression-free and overall survival with the Trop-2–directed antibody-drug...
Roche announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) voted seven to two in favor of maintaining accelerated approval of atezolizumab in combination with chemotherapy (nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel, or nab-paclitaxel) for the treatment of ...
In the phase I NRG-BR001 trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Chmura et al found that stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) could be used safely to treat multiple metastases in patients with breast, lung, and prostate cancers. Study Details The trial was conducted within a consortium of North...
Everything about my breast cancer diagnosis, from my presentation to diagnosis, was strange. In the spring of 2006, I was performing my monthly breast self-exam when I felt a hard lump in the upper left quadrant of my left breast. Having lost a good friend to breast cancer 4 years earlier, I was...
Eight oncology practices in eight different U.S. metropolitan areas with high rates of breast cancer disparities between Black and White Americans have been selected to participate in ASCO’s quality programs, including the Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®)and Quality Training Program...
ASCO has released a new guideline regarding the use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, endocrine therapy, and targeted therapy in breast cancer.1 “This is the first time ASCO has embarked on a guideline for neoadjuvant therapy,” said Larissa A. Korde, MD, of the National Cancer Institute, and guideline...
Findings from the ASCO-designed phase II Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry (TAPUR) basket trial, reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Alva et al, indicated that pembrolizumab showed activity in heavily pretreated patients with metastatic breast cancer and high mutational...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Hope S. Rugo, MD, and colleagues, findings in one cohort of the phase II BYLieve trial indicated activity of the PI3Kα-selective inhibitor and degrader alpelisib plus fulvestrant in patients with PIK3CA-mutated, hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced ...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Orecchia et al, preplanned long-term follow-up in the Italian single-center phase III ELIOT trial continued to show a higher rate of ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence with electron intraoperative radiotherapy vs postoperative whole-breast irradiation, with no ...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Sibylle Loibl, MD, PhD, and colleagues, the phase III PENELOPE-B trial has shown that palbociclib plus endocrine therapy did not improve invasive disease–free survival vs placebo plus endocrine therapy in patients with residual invasive hormone...
Breast cancer survivors who are overweight have a statistically significant increased risk of developing second primary cancers, according to results from a study conducted by Feigelson et al and published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. “These findings have important public health ...
In an analysis from the PIK3CA-mutant cohort of the phase III SOLAR-1 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Eva Ciruelos, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that the addition of alpelisib to fulvestrant was not associated with significant worsening of global health status/quality of life...
Melinda L. Telli, MD, of Stanford Cancer Institute, discusses highlights of the new NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology®, including nonanthracycline, taxane-based regimens as preferred treatments for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer; newly approved combination therapies such as tucatinib plus capecitabine plus trastuzumab, margetuximab plus chemotherapy, and neratinib plus capecitabine; and recommendations for third line and beyond.
Linda T. Vahdat, MD, MBA, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses results of a phase II trial designed to test the concept that targeting the tumor microenvironment by depleting copper may prevent metastases, essentially disrupting the infrastructure that contributes to tumor spread.
Dennis J. Slamon, MD, PhD, of the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, reflects on the ways in which breast cancer research pioneered the targeted treatment approach, as understanding of the basic biology of tumors deepened and new pathways were uncovered. He sees a future ripe with possibilities for new molecular targets to further improve outcomes for patients with breast cancer and other types of tumors.
In the next 2 decades, rankings of incidence and death across cancer types in the United States will undergo important changes, according to new research published by Lola Rahib, PhD, and colleagues in JAMA Network Open. The study estimates that pancreatic cancer is on course to become the...
Cirmena et al discussed whether using a liquid biopsy test to assess plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) integrity could improve the accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for predicting the achievement of complete response among patients with locally advanced breast cancer who had received...
Rita Nanda, MD, of the University of Chicago, discusses the latest data on novel treatment strategies for triple-negative breast cancer, including immune checkpoint, PARP, and ATK inhibitors; antibody-drug conjugates; and targeting the androgen receptor.
Gastrointestinal oncologist John Marshall, MD, is well known for his candid observations about cancer treatment and research. In 2006, all the scientific intricacies and sociopolitical dramas of oncology coalesced in Dr. Marshall’s life when his 43-year-old wife, Liza, was diagnosed with breast...
Globally, breast cancer surpassed lung cancer as the most common cancer among women, with an estimated 2.3 million cases in 2020.1,2 Approximately 685,000 women will die of breast cancer in 2020 around the world. Approximately 24.5% of all cancers in women are breast cancer, and 15.5% of...
In an Indian study reported in the British Medical Journal, Indraneel Mittra, MD, PhD, of Tata Memorial Centre, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, and colleagues at Tata Memorial Centre found that breast cancer screening with clinical breast examination vs active surveillance resulted in...
In an analysis of several phase III MONALEESA trials reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Aleix Prat, MD, PhD, and colleagues found consistent progression-free survival benefits with the combination of ribociclib plus endocrine therapy vs placebo plus endocrine therapy across all intrinsic ...
On April 7, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted regular approval to sacituzumab govitecan-hziy (Trodelvy) for patients with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer who have received two or more prior systemic therapies, at least one of them...
For the treatment of breast cancer, antibody-drug conjugates are emerging as effective players that could impact all subtypes of this disease, according to Kevin Kalinsky, MD, MS, Director of the Glenn Family Breast Cancer at the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta. In the...
In a German prospective registry study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Peter A. Fasching, MD, and colleagues identified the prevalence of germline mutations in BRCA1/2 and other breast cancer risk genes in patients with metastatic disease and found similar prognosis with presence vs...
In the Swedish phase II KARISMA study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Eriksson et al found noninferior mammographic density reduction and reduced vasomotor symptoms following tamoxifen therapy at 2.5, 5, and 10 mg vs the standard dose of 20 mg among women undergoing breast cancer...
In a single-institution retrospective study focused on a New York City location reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Satish et al found that more than 40% of patients with breast cancer not infected with COVID-19 had a delay or change in care delivery due to the pandemic. Study Details The study...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Cobleigh et al, the phase III NRG Oncology/NSABP B-43 trial did not show a significant reduction in ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence with the addition of adjuvant concurrent trastuzumab to radiotherapy in women undergoing lumpectomy for...
Consumption of ultra-processed food and drink could increase the risk of developing colorectal cancer. This was the conclusion of a large study published by Romaguera et al in Clinical Nutrition based on questionnaires about food behaviors completed by around 8,000 people in Spain. The study, the...
Younger women with breast cancer differ from their older counterparts in ways that should be appreciated by their clinicians, according to Ann H. Partridge, MD, MPH, FASCO, Vice Chair of Medical Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. At PER’s...
I’m a person who doesn’t like uncertainty. I’m also a worrier. So, when my hand kept going to the same spot on the upper part of my left breast near my chest wall, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t quite right, which persisted even after a routine mammography failed to find any...
With the widespread use of multigene panels for germline genetic testing, understanding the cancer risks associated with pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants (ie, mutations) has become increasingly necessary. To identify which genes are breast cancer susceptibility genes, population studies...
In a U.S. population–based, case-control study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Chunling Hu, MD, PhD, of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, and colleagues identified the prevalence of and breast cancer risk associated with germline pathogenic variants in established and...
Cancer ranks as a leading cause of death in every country in the world, and, for the first time, female breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer, overtaking lung cancer, according to a collaborative report from the American Cancer Society (ACS) and the International Agency for Research...