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Patricia A. Ganz, MD, of the University of California, Los Angeles, discusses study findings that showed mindfulness meditation and survivorship education may effectively reduce depression and related symptoms such as fatigue and sleep disturbance, which pose serious threats to younger women’s health and well-being after being treated for cancer (Abstract GS2-10).
Joseph A. Sparano, MD, of the Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, discusses the development and validation of a tool that integrates the 21-gene recurrence score and clinicopathologic features to individualize prognosis for distant recurrence and predict chemotherapy benefit in patients with early breast cancer with greater precision (Abstract GS4-10).
In a National Cancer Database analysis reported in The Lancet Oncology, Crozier et al found that receipt of neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy was associated with improved overall survival among women aged 70 or older undergoing surgery for stage I to III triple-negative breast cancer. Study...
Nadia Harbeck, MD, of the University of Munich, discusses the first outcome data from the phase III ADAPT HR+/HER– trial, which combined both static and dynamic biomarkers to optimize the adjuvant therapy approach in patients with intermediate- or high-risk luminal early breast cancer (Abstract GS4-04).
In a study reported in JAMA Network Open, Kunst et al compared five neoadjuvant-adjuvant treatment strategies for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer and identified one that was associated with both improved outcomes and cost savings. The researchers found that a strategy of neoadjuvant...
The number of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) assessed at baseline and about 1 month after cancer-directed treatment was associated with overall survival in patients with metastatic breast cancer, according to findings from a large retrospective pooled analysis reported by Wolfgang Janni, MD, PhD,...
Adding an immune checkpoint inhibitor to a standard chemotherapy regimen for patients with early-stage triple-negative breast cancer did not affect patients’ ability to perform day-to-day activities more than treatment with chemotherapy alone, according to research presented by Elizabeth...
In a study presented at the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (Abstract GS4-10) and concurrently published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Joseph A. Sparano, MD, and colleagues described the development and validation of a new prognostic tool. RSClin integrates the 21-gene recurrence...
Just in are the results of the SWOG S1007 RxPONDER trial, which evaluated the benefit of chemotherapy in women with early-stage, hormone receptor (HR)-positive, node-positive breast cancer. Based on the findings, many postmenopausal women may be able to safely skip adjuvant chemotherapy. However,...
Extended follow-up results from the phase III monarchE trial showed that adding the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor abemaciclib to standard adjuvant endocrine therapy continued to improve invasive disease–free survival in patients with high-risk, node-positive, early-stage, hormone receptor...
New research showed that behavioral interventions—mindfulness meditation and survivorship education classes—may be effective in reducing depressive symptoms in younger breast cancer survivors. This patient population often experiences the highest levels of depression, stress, and fatigue, which may ...
In her recent study, Debra A. Pratt, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic, showed that when breast cancer treatment using any of three modalities takes longer than 38 weeks, it is associated with a decrease in survival, regardless of the receptor status. Patients with breast cancer who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy were more likely to take longer than 38 weeks to complete treatment than those undergoing surgery first (Abstract S11-34 ).
Chirag Shah, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic, discusses the impact of DCISionRT testing on radiation therapy recommendations for patients with ductal carcinoma in situ following lumpectomy. His study found that despite using traditional favorable-risk criteria, radiation recommendations were changed in more than 40% of patients (Abstract PS6-17).
When I was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in 2018, my first thought was, I hope my three young children do not lose two parents to cancer. My husband, Ricky, had survived two bouts of cancer, early-stage colorectal cancer and, most recently, stage I kidney cancer. Like Ricky’s two...
In a 7-year follow-up of the phase III CALGB 40601/Alliance trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Aranzazu Fernandez-Martinez, MD, of Lineberger Comprehensive Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and colleagues found that neoadjuvant paclitaxel combined with a dual...
In the UK phase III POETIC trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Ian Smith, MD, of The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, and colleagues, found that perioperative aromatase inhibitor therapy did not reduce the risk of recurrence in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor (HR)-positive...
Immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibitors, established as a treatment of many solid tumors, may be finding a role in the treatment of breast cancer. The current state of the art regarding immunotherapy for triple-negative breast cancer was the focus of a talk by Heather L. McArthur, MD, MPH, Medical ...
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the Caribbean. Adding to this growing burden, many of the nations in this geographically spread region have under-resourced health-care systems and a lack of cohesive approaches to the delivery of cancer care. To shed light on the public health...
Among patients with breast cancer treated with radiotherapy, symptoms were commonly underrecognized in reports of pain, pruritus, edema, and fatigue, with younger patients and Black patients having significantly increased odds of symptom underrecognition. These findings were reported by Reshma...
Women who undergo mastectomy with reconstructive surgery as part of breast cancer treatment may face the risk of persistent use of opioids and sedative-hypnotic drugs, according to data presented by Jacob Cogan, MD, and colleagues at the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (Abstract GS3-08)....
A large meta-analysis of breast cancer survivors of childbearing age indicated that they are less likely than the general public to become pregnant and may face a higher risk of certain complications, such as preterm labor. However, most survivors who do become pregnant deliver healthy babies and...
Patients aged 65 or older with hormone receptor (HR)-positive breast cancer who did not receive radiation therapy after breast-conserving surgery had higher rates of local recurrence but similar 10-year survival rates when compared to patients who received postoperative radiation therapy, according ...
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in JAMA Network Open, Cullinane et al found that higher levels of plasma circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) were associated with poorer disease-free survival in patients with both early and advanced breast cancer, with the association being stronger with ...
In a population-based cohort study reported in JAMA Network Open, Zhai et al found that adjuvant therapies were associated with improved overall survival among patients with stage I (T1 N0 M0) triple-negative breast cancer, with adjuvant chemotherapy being associated with improved breast...
In a study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Ferrario et al found a sizable increase in end-of-life intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and a small but significant increase in emergency department visits over time among commercially insured women younger than age 65 with metastatic breast cancer...
In a study reported in JAMA Network Open, Guo et al found that the proportion of positive BRCA genetic test results markedly declined between 2008 and 2018 among women aged ≥ 65 years in the United States, with the trend likely reflecting what the investigators call a loosening of testing criteria...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Ian E. Smith, MD, and colleagues, the phase III POETIC trial found that perioperative aromatase inhibitor therapy did not reduce the risk of disease recurrence in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor (HR)-positive early breast cancer vs no perioperative...
In a Swedish nationwide cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, Marklund et al found that women who had undergone fertility preservation had a higher live birth rate, were more likely to use assisted reproductive technology, and had better overall survival after breast cancer than women who had not ...
You could call it a sixth sense, but the moment I felt a lump in my left breast I knew it was cancer, although it would take several weeks to confirm the diagnosis. When I saw my primary cancer physician and told him of my concern, he said: “Don’t worry. Men don’t get breast cancer; it’s a woman’s...
In an analysis from the phase III ExteNET trial reported in Clinical Breast Cancer, Arlene Chan, MD, of the Breast Cancer Research Centre of Western Australia and Curtin University, Perth, and colleagues, found significant improvements in efficacy outcomes with administration of neratinib vs...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Stephen R.D. Johnston, MD, PhD, of the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, and colleagues, an interim analysis in the phase III monarchE trial has shown that adjuvant abemaciclib plus endocrine therapy significantly improved invasive...
The statistically significant benefit of alpelisib in reducing disease progression, as reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2 years ago, did not translate into a significant improvement in overall survival, although a numerical 8-month gain was observed in the final ...
“There has been a lot of interest in the development of new antiandrogens” for clinical use in patients with breast cancer,” Anthony D. Elias, MD, reported in an update on male breast cancer at the 2020 Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Symposium, sponsored by the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center...
Breast cancers detected between mammographic screenings carry a worse prognosis than those detected at the time of screening, even when tumor biology is similar, according to research presented at the 12th European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC 12), which was held virtually this year.1 The 8-year...
Long-term analysis of the phase III MINDACT trial, with a median follow-up of 8.7 years, confirmed that the 70-gene signature MammaPrint assay can identify which patients with breast cancer can safely forgo adjuvant chemotherapy, reported Emiel Rutgers, MD, PhD, FRCS, a surgical oncologist at the...
In a Korean single-institution cohort study reported in JAMA Surgery, Lee et al found that the use of textured surface implants in breast reconstruction following mastectomy for breast cancer was associated with poorer disease-free survival. Study Details The study involved data from 650 women...
A comparison of baseline characteristics in patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative early breast cancer revealed that a higher proportion of patients enrolled from Asia had risk factors for disease recurrence than those enrolled from non-Asian countries, reported Jiang et al at...
About 10% to 20% of newly diagnosed breast cancers demonstrate overexpression of the HER2 protein.1 Since the introduction of trastuzumab, several new HER2-targeted therapies have been approved for use in the adjuvant and metastatic settings (eg, pertuzumab, lapatinib, and neratinib). However, for...
A study by Quyen D. Chu, MD, MBA, FACS, and colleagues published in the journal Cancer investigated how expansion of the Medicaid provision in the the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) affected breast cancer care in Louisiana. The state is the third poorest in the country and has one ...
Population-wide screening for genetic variants linked to hereditary breast and ovarian cancers may be cost-effective in women between the ages of 20 and 35, according to a study published by Guzauskas et al in JAMA Network Open. However, screening for older women was not cost-effective, the...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology, Prat et al have developed a prognostic risk score model—HER2DX—that can be used to identify patients with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer who might be candidates for escalated or de-escalated systemic treatment. As stated by the investigators, “In...
In a 7-year follow-up of the phase III CALGB 40601/Alliance neoadjuvant trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Fernandez-Martinez et al found that paclitaxel combined with trastuzumab/lapatinib was associated with improved survival outcomes vs paclitaxel/trastuzumab in women with...
In the French phase III STIC CTC trial reported in JAMA Oncology, François-Clément Bidard, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that choice of first-line chemotherapy vs endocrine therapy in hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer based on circulating tumor cell count...
In a phase II trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Mariotti et al found that the addition of the indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) pathway inhibitor indoximod to a taxane did not improve progression-free survival in first-line treatment of patients with metastatic HER2-negative breast cancer. As...
In states that have expanded Medicaid availability as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), mortality rates for three major types of cancer are significantly lower than in states that have not expanded their Medicaid, according to findings from a new study published by Miranda B. Lam, MD, MBA, and ...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Philip M. Poortmans, PhD, and colleagues, 15-year outcomes of the phase III EORTC 22922/10925 trial show continued reductions in both breast cancer mortality and recurrence with postsurgery internal mammary and medial supraclavicular (IM-MS) lymph node chain...
As recently reported in The Lancet Oncology and reviewed in the October 10, 2020, issue of The ASCO Post, the phase III BROCADE3 trial has shown that the addition of veliparib to carboplatin and paclitaxel improved progression-free survival in previously treated BRCA-mutated advanced breast...
Coronary artery calcification scores based on routine computed tomography (CT) scans used for planning radiotherapy therapy may be able to predict which women with breast cancer have a high probability of developing cardiovascular disease. The promise of this research is that once high-risk...
The ASCO Post asked Charles L. Shapiro, MD, Professor of Medicine, Director of Translational Breast Cancer Research, and Director of Cancer Survivorship at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, for his thoughts on the exploratory analysis of PALOMA-3. He first pointed out that the...
The phase III PALOMA-3 trial significantly reduced the risk of disease progression by 50% in patients with hormone receptor–positive/HER2-negative advanced breast cancer, but the improvement in overall survival did not reach statistical significance.1 An exploratory subgroup analysis has now shown...