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Patients in the observational Mind-Body Study receiving adjuvant endocrine therapy for primary breast cancer treatment reported a greater symptom burden than did patients not receiving endocrine therapy over 12 months, as reported by Ganz et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. No differences in ...
Ado-trastuzumab emtansine (formerly T-DM1; Kadcyla) improved overall survival compared with treatment of physician’s choice of therapy for patients with pretreated HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, according to the phase III TH3RESA trial.1 Patients enrolled in the trial had previously been...
The final analysis of the BCIRG-006 trial confirmed the long-term efficacy of trastuzumab (Herceptin) in early breast cancer and also validated the concept that anthracyclines increase toxicity and they are not always necessary for a good outcome.1 The 10-year follow-up of the landmark trial was...
Up to 60% of the computed tomography (CT) scans, bone scans, and positron emission tomography (PET) scans performed for more than 29,000 Michigan women diagnosed with early breast cancer between 2008 and 2014 could not be medically justified based on retrospective record review, according to the...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Desmedt et al identified genomic alterations in invasive lobular breast cancer, including several that may serve as targets for current treatment and for treatment research. Invasive lobular breast cancer cells are characterized by...
Most young women diagnosed with breast cancer are not physically active in the months after a cancer diagnosis, but physical activity increased over time. According to data presented at the 2016 Cancer Survivorship Symposium, higher levels of physical activity were seen among women whose oncology...
In the phase II Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium (TBCRC) 022 study, reported by Freedman et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the erbB1, HER2, erbB4 inhibitor neratinib showed some activity in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer brain metastases. Study Details In the...
In women undergoing breast reconstruction using autologous tissue, newer muscle-sparing abdominal flaps can reduce complications while improving some aspects of quality of life, according to a study by Macadem et al in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. Comparison of four types of abdominal flaps ...
Steven Shak, MD, of Genomic Health, discusses mortality among patients with early-stage hormone receptor–positive invasive breast cancer in the SEER database who were treated based on the 21-gene Recurrence Score results (Abstract 176).
A new study suggests that up to 60% of the computed tomography (CT) scans, bone scans, and positron-emission tomography (PET) scans performed for more than 29,000 Michigan women diagnosed with early breast cancer between 2008 and 2014 could not be medically justified based on retrospective record...
In the phase III LUX-Breast 1 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Harbeck et al found no benefit of afatinib (Gilotrif)/vinorelbine vs trastuzumab (Herceptin)/vinorelbine after previous trastuzumab treatment in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. Broader inhibition of ErbB...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Burstein et al, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline update on ovarian suppression as part of the extant guideline on adjuvant endocrine therapy in hormone receptor–positive breast cancer. The update is based on an update panel...
On February 19, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved palbociclib (Ibrance) in combination with fulvestrant for the treatment of women with hormone receptor–positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)–negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer with...
Like many men, it never occurred to me that I could get breast cancer. But it turns out it is more common—and deadly—than I thought, with about 2,600 men diagnosed each year with invasive breast cancer and nearly 440 dying of the disease.1 In 2010, I became one of those men, and the diagnosis was...
A funding award of $13.4 million hopes to answer one of the biggest questions in the current management of breast cancer: Do women with the earliest form of the disease, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), need invasive surgery? Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Duke...
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators may have uncovered a novel mechanism behind the ability of obesity to promote cancer progression. In their report published by Incio et al in Clinical Cancer Research, the research team describes finding an association between obesity and an...
When breast cancer becomes metastatic, patient survival is drastically reduced, prompting the need to explore the genes that may cause tumor cells to metastasize. Now, scientists from The Wistar Institute have shown that a gene that was once thought only to be found in the brain is also expressed...
The American Cancer Society (ACS) and ASCO have issued a Breast Cancer Survivorship Care guideline, published jointly in the Journal of Clinical Oncology and CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. The guideline recommendations were formulated by a multidisciplinary expert work group and are based on...
According to the most recent estimates, 55% to 65% of women who inherit the BRCA1 mutation and about 45% of women who inherit the BRCA2 mutation will develop breast cancer by the time they are 70 years old. There is also a substantial increase in the probability of developing ovarian cancers in...
In an analysis of experience at MD Anderson Cancer Center reported in JAMA Oncology, Mougalian et al found that 10-year overall and relapse-free survival rates in patients with stage II or III breast cancer and axillary metastases receiving primary systemic chemotherapy were higher in those with vs ...
The past year has produced an embarrassment of riches regarding the value of aromatase inhibitors for women with ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast. The long-awaited NSABP B-35 study matured and was reported by Margolese and colleagues at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting this past summer, followed...
Two recently reported phase III trials compared adjuvant anastrozole vs tamoxifen in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive ductal carcinoma in situ. As reported in The Lancet by Margolese et al,1 the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) B-35 trial, performed in...
In the phase III CALGB 40601 trial, reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Lisa A. Carey, MD, of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and colleagues, pathologic complete response rate was not significantly increased by adding neoadjuvant trastuzumab (Herceptin) plus lapatinib...
Ductal carcinoma in situ is a relatively benign form of breast cancer (stage 0), yet up to 10% of women with ductal carcinoma in situ will have a recurrence within 10 years. At present, there is no way to identify which women will recur, so standard treatment is lumpectomy plus radiation therapy....
In screening for breast cancer, results from a study in the United Kingdom suggest that the use of “synthetic” two-dimensional (2D) mammography, rather than 2D/three-dimensional (3D) combinations, could save radiologists’ time and patients’ exposure to radiation as well as result in many fewer...
The 2015 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), hosted by the American Association for Cancer Research, the Cancer Therapy & Research Center at The University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio, and Baylor College of Medicine, was held in December 2015. As has been true for...
Neoadjuvant treatment with a chemotherapy-free, anti-HER2 regimen yielded high rates of pathologic complete response in patients with HER2-positive, hormone receptor-positive early breast cancer in the phase II WSG-ADAPT HER2+/HR+ (ADAPT) trial presented at the 2015 San Antonio Breast Cancer...
Women who eat more high-fiber foods during adolescence and young adulthood—especially fruits and vegetables—may have significantly lower breast cancer risk than those who eat less dietary fiber when young, according to a new large-scale study led by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan...
In an analysis of the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Henderson et al found that childhood survivors of sarcoma and leukemia with no history of chest radiotherapy were at an increased risk of breast cancer. Increased Risk The study included data from...
Ian E. Krop, MD, PhD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses abstract S2-02, “The FERGI phase II study of the PI3K inhibitor pictilisib (GDC-0941) plus fulvestrant vs fulvestrant plus placebo in patients with estrogen receptor–positive, aromatase inhibitor–resistant advanced or metastatic breast cancer: Part I results.”
Ann H. Partridge, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, on abstract S3-09, “Patient-reported endocrine symptoms, sexual functioning and quality of life in the IBCSG SOFT trial: Adjuvant treatment with tamoxifen alone vs tamoxifen plus ovarian function suppression in premenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive early breast cancer.”
Hope S. Rugo, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco, discusses abstract S6-04, “Fulvestrant 500 mg vs anastrozole as first-line treatment for advanced breast cancer: Overall survival from the phase II FIRST study,” presented by John F.R. Robertson, MD.
Charles E. Geyer, Jr, MD, FACP, of Massey Cancer Center, discusses abstract S3-08, “Randomized comparison of adjuvant tamoxifen plus ovarian function suppression vs tamoxifen in premenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive early breast cancer: Analysis of the SOFT trial,” presented by Prudence Francis, MD.
Harry D. Bear, MD, PhD, of Massey Cancer Center, discusses abstract OT1-3-02, “Will chest wall and regional nodal radiotherapy post mastectomy or the addition of regional nodal radiotherapy to breast radiotherapy post lumpectomy reduce the rate of invasive cancer events in patients with positive axillary nodes who convert to ypN0 after neoadjuvant chemotherapy? NSABP B-51/RTOG 1304 a phase III trial.”
Hope S. Rugo, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco, discusses abstract S5-08, “Final survival analysis from the randomized Women's Intervention Nutrition Study (WINS) evaluating dietary intervention as adjuvant breast cancer therapy,” presented by Rowan T. Chlebowski, MD.
Harry D. Bear, MD, PhD, of Massey Cancer Center, discusses abstract PD2-1, “The effect on overall and disease-free survival by adding bevacizumab and/or antimetabolites to standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy: NSABP Protocol B-40.”
Clifford A. Hudis, MD, FACP, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses findings from abstract S3-08, “Randomized comparison of adjuvant tamoxifen plus ovarian function suppression vs tamoxifen in premenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive early breast cancer: Analysis of the SOFT trial,” presented by Prudence Francis, MD.
Lisa A. Carey, MD, of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, addresses further analysis of data from abstract S4-05, “Impact of intrinsic subtype by PAM50 and other gene signatures on pathologic complete response rates in triple-negative breast cancer after neoadjuvant chemotherapy with or without carboplatin or bevacizumab: CALGB 40603/150709,” presented by William M. Sikov, MD.
Charles E. Geyer, Jr, MD, FACP, of Massey Cancer Center, discusses findings from abstract S3-02, “NSABP B-36: A randomized phase III trial comparing six cycles of fluorouracil (5-FU), epirubicin, and cyclophosphamide (FEC) to four cycles of adriamycin and cyclophosphamide (AC) in patients with node-negative breast cancer.”
Edith A. Perez, MD, of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, discusses abstract S1-06, “Stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes: In the Alliance N9831 trial S-TILs are associated with chemotherapy benefit but not associated with trastuzumab benefit.”
Clifford A. Hudis, MD, FACP, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses findings from abstract P5-19-09, “Stage 1 results from MDV3100-11: A two-stage study of enzalutamide, an androgen receptor inhibitor, in advanced androgen receptor–positive triple-negative breast cancer,” presented by Tiffany A. Traina, MD.
Prudence Francis, MD, of Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, and Hope Rugo, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco, discuss data from abstract S3-08, "Randomized comparison of adjuvant tamoxifen plus ovarian function suppression vs tamoxifen in premenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive early breast cancer: Analysis of the SOFT trial."
Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, of the Cleveland Clinic, offers his thoughts on abstract S1-09, "A phase Ib study of pembrolizumab (MK-3475) in patients with advanced triple-negative breast cancer," presented by Rita Nanda, MD.
Matthew J. Ellis, MD, PhD, of the Baylor College of Medicine, offers a brief synopsis of his plenary lecture, "Genome-Directed Therapeutics for Endocrine Therapy–Resistant Estrogen Receptor–Positive Breast Cancer."
Gunter von Minckwitz, MD, of the University of Frankfurt, offers his thoughts on abstract S3-04, "The phase III ICE study: Adjuvant ibandronate with or without capecitabine in elderly patients with moderate or high risk early breast cancer."
Jack Cuzick, PhD, of the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, discusses abstract S3-07, "16-year long-term follow-up of the IBIS-I breast cancer prevention trial."
William M. Sikov, MD, of Women and Infants Hospital, discusses abstract S4-05, "Impact of intrinsic subtype by PAM50 and other gene signatures on pathologic complete response rates in triple-negative breast cancer after neoadjuvant chemotherapy with or without carboplatin or bevacizumab: CALGB 40603/150709 (Alliance)."
Lisa A. Carey, MD, of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses abstract S3-01, “The TNT trial: A randomized phase III trial of carboplatin compared with docetaxel for patients with metastatic or recurrent locally advanced triple negative or BRCA1/2 breast cancer."
Lisa A. Carey, MD, of UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, offers her thoughts on abstract S1-09, "A phase IB study of pembrolizumab (MK-3475) in patients with advanced triple-negative breast cancer," presented by Rita Nanda, MD.
Harold J. Burstein, MD, PhD, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Lisa Carey, MD, of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, discuss: The TNT trial comparing docetaxel to carboplatin The CALGB trial on response rates after neoadjuvant chemo with or without carboplatin or bevacizumab Pembrolizumab in a phase Ib study