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Timothy J. Whelan, MD, of McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences, discusses findings from the LUMINA study, which found that women aged 55 or older who had grade 1–2 T1N0 luminal A breast cancer following breast-conserving surgery and were treated with endocrine therapy alone had very low rates of local tumor recurrence at 5 years. These patients, the research suggests, may be able to forgo radiotherapy (Abstract LBA501).
Tara B. Sanft, MD, of Yale University, discusses the results of the LEANer study (Lifestyle, Exercise, and Nutrition Early After Diagnosis) in women with breast cancer. It showed that patients with newly diagnosed disease who were just starting chemotherapy could improve physical activity and diet quality. While both groups had high rates of treatment completion, women in the intervention who exercised at or above the recommended levels did better in terms of treatment completion, with fewer dose reductions and delays (Abstract 12007).
Richard Finn, MD, of the Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses analyses from the PALOMA-2 trial on overall survival with first-line palbociclib plus letrozole vs placebo plus letrozole in women with ER-positive/HER2-negative advanced breast cancer. The study met its primary endpoint of improving progression-free survival but not the secondary endpoint of overall survival. Although patients receiving palbociclib plus letrozole had numerically longer overall survival than those receiving placebo plus letrozole, the results were not statistically significant (Abstract LBA1003).
Women younger than age 40 with advanced breast cancer often experience more aggressive disease and worse prognoses than their older counterparts. Knowing which types of genetic mutations these patients tend to have may inform treatment strategies and improve outcomes. In a recent study, researchers ...
Based on guidance from biomarker screening, patients with low-grade luminal A–type breast cancer aged 55 and older may need endocrine therapy alone following breast-conserving surgery and may be able to avoid radiation therapy entirely, according to new research findings presented by Timothy Joseph ...
Robert Hugh Jones, MD, PhD, of Cardiff University and Velindre Hospital, discusses results from an updated analysis of the FAKTION trial, which showed improved overall survival with fulvestrant plus capivasertib in women with metastatic estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer whose disease had relapsed or progressed on an aromatase inhibitor. The benefit may be predominantly in patients with PIK3CA/AKT1/PTEN pathway–altered tumors, a topic researchers continue to study in the phase III CAPItello-291 trial (Abstract 1005).
Although women of African descent experience a higher incidence and mortality from triple-negative breast cancer than women of other races or ethnicities, research findings presented by Hall et al at the 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting showed that the magnitude of gene-specific risks of triple-negative...
Lisa A. Carey, MD, of the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Hope S. Rugo, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, discuss phase III results from the TROPiCS-02 trial. This study showed that sacituzumab govitecan-hziy was more beneficial than single-agent chemotherapy in terms of progression-free survival in heavily pretreated patients with hormone receptor–positive/HER2-negative and unresectable advanced breast cancer (LBA1001).
Stephanie Walker, a former nurse and current activist with the Metastatic Breast Cancer Alliance, discusses findings from the BECOME project (Black Experience of Clinical Trials and Opportunities for Meaningful Engagement). They show that, even though Black patients comprise between 4% and 6% of all clinical trial participants, Black women with metastatic breast cancer are willing to consider taking part if steps were taken to increase their awareness, build trust through clear communication with health-care providers, involve people of shared racial/ethnic identity and health experience, and help patients find and access trials (Abstract 1014).
To fully evaluate hormone-blocking therapy following surgery for patients with early-stage high-risk hormone receptor–positive/HER2-negative breast cancer, researchers should continue to track patients for at least 5 years after the completion of active treatment, according to a study reported at...
The use of fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki doubled progression-free survival compared with the standard-of-care treatment plus conventional chemotherapy. It also significantly improved overall survival for patients with metastatic breast cancers expressing low levels of the HER2 receptor,...
A new genomic test designed to measure the endocrine sensitivity of estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer has the potential to identify patients diagnosed with the disease who could benefit more from dose-dense chemotherapy—a regimen in which chemotherapy is administered more frequently than...
Treatment with the antibody-drug conjugate sacituzumab govitecan-hziy resulted in longer progression-free survival compared to physician’s choice of chemotherapy in patients who have received many prior therapies for hormone receptor–positive/HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer, according to...
In a study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Taparra et al identified differences in 10-year survival and surgery-to-radiotherapy intervals among disaggregated Asian American and Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander women with early-stage breast cancer. The study used National Cancer Database...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Thomas Bachelot, MD, PhD, and colleagues, the phase III UNIRAD trial showed no improvement in disease-free survival with the addition of everolimus to adjuvant endocrine therapy for patients with high-risk hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative...
On a warm summer afternoon, I stood in front of tables at the local farmers market loaded with my favorite fruits and vegetables: peaches, tomatoes, corn, peppers, melons, kale. I practically drooled thinking about what I could make that week: corn and tomato salad, kale and mushroom quesadillas,...
A survey of patients with metastatic breast cancer found that 83% of Black respondents were somewhat or very likely to consider clinical trial participation; however, 40% of those respondents reported that they had not been informed by their care team about the opportunity to enroll in a trial. The ...
In a German phase IIb trial (GeparX) reported in JAMA Oncology, Jens-Uwe Blohmer, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that the addition of denosumab to neoadjuvant chemotherapy did not improve pathologic complete response rate in patients with breast cancer. They also found that weekly vs less frequent...
A rapid update to the ASCO Guideline on neoadjuvant therapy for breast cancer adds a recommendation on the use of pembrolizumab in patients with high-risk early-stage triple-negative breast cancer.1 The update follows a recent analysis from the randomized phase III KEYNOTE-522 trial that showed a...
Millions of elective surgeries and medical procedures were canceled or postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, research shows that COVID-19 restrictions were also associated with significant delays in breast cancer care.1 Findings of a cohort study, which compared breast cancer care before and...
More extensive surgery does not improve survival over less aggressive surgery in younger women with breast cancer, according to data presented at the 2022 American Society of Breast Surgeons Annual Meeting.1 The results of a retrospective study of nearly 600 patients showed that treatment with...
In this installment of Living a Full Life, Guest Editor Jame Abraham, MD, spoke with Sara M. Tolaney, MD, MPH, a faculty member of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she is Chief of the Breast Cancer Program. Her current research focuses on the development of novel ...
In a subanalysis from the Dutch IMPACT-MBC study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, van Geel et al found that qualitative whole-body 16α-[fluorine F-18]fluoro-17β-estradiol positron-emission tomography/computed tomography ([F-18]FES-PET) was highly accurate in predicting estrogen...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by François-Clément Bidard, MD, PhD, and colleagues, the phase III EMERALD trial has shown prolonged progression-free survival with the oral selective estrogen receptor (ER) degrader elacestrant vs standard endocrine therapy among patients with...
In the INSITE study reported in JAMA Surgery, E. Shelley Hwang, MD, MPH, and colleagues found that use of an intraoperative imaging agent with a pegulicianine fluorescence–guided system (pFGS) was effective in detecting residual cancer in the tumor bed of women with breast cancer undergoing...
In an ancillary study of the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group E4112 study reported in JAMA Network Open, Fazeli et al found that patient preference of type of surgery and type of surgery received for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) were influenced by preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)...
In 1996, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) published its first set of Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology® covering eight tumor types. Guidelines are now published for more than 60 tumor types, subtypes, and topics. During the NCCN’s 27th Annual Conference, which was again...
As reported in JAMA Oncology by Debu Tripathy, MD, and colleagues, the phase III ATTAIN trial has shown no difference in overall survival with etirinotecan pegol vs physician’s choice of chemotherapy for patients with metastatic breast cancer and brain metastases. As noted by the investigators,...
The risk of invasive breast cancer in men may be associated with self-reported infertility, according to a study published by Swerdlow et al in the journal Breast Cancer Research. The authors interviewed 1,998 males in England and Wales diagnosed with breast cancer, with 112 (5.6%) also...
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Singleton et al found that electronic health interventions were associated with improved quality of life, distress, self-efficacy, and fatigue vs usual care during or after treatment in patients with breast...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Foerster et al, the African Breast Cancer–Disparities in Outcomes prospective cohort study has shown that a high proportion of women with newly diagnosed nonmetastatic breast cancer in sub-Saharan Africa did not initiate, did not fully complete, or abandoned...
In women aged 70 and older with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative, low-risk breast cancers, sentinel lymph node biopsy may not be a reliable indicator of the need for adjuvant chemotherapy, researchers reported at the 2022 American Society of Breast Surgeons Annual Meeting.1 “We found that...
In the Dutch phase III TEAM-IIB trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sonja B. Vliek, MD, and colleagues found that the addition of oral ibandronate to adjuvant endocrine therapy did not improve disease-free survival in postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive stage I ...
What is so dismaying to me is that the statistic on survival for Black women with breast cancer has not changed since I was diagnosed with breast cancer 17 years ago. In 2005, Black women were 41% more likely to die of the disease than White women, even though Black women are less likely to be...
In an updated analysis of the phase III MONALEESA-3 trial, which included postmenopausal patients with advanced/metastatic hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, first-line treatment with ribociclib plus fulvestrant lengthened overall survival by approximately 16 months vs...
In the single-center phase II TUXEDO-1 trial of patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer, fam-trastuzumab-deruxtecan-nxki (T-DXd) showed efficacy in patients with active brain metastases, yielding intracranial responses in 73.3% of the population and a median progression-free survival of...
On May 4, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (Enhertu) for pretreated adult patients with unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer. According to the approval, patients had to have received a prior anti-HER2–based regimen either in the...
Immunotherapy has become a potential strategy in treating triple-negative breast cancer, though many questions remain to be answered before long-term survival is achieved by all patients. This exciting field of breast cancer research was explored at the 2022 Miami Breast Cancer Conference by...
Radiologists and artificial intelligence (AI) systems yield significant differences in breast cancer screenings, a team of researchers has found. The case study by Makino et al, which appears in the journal Nature Scientific Reports, reveals the potential value of using both human and AI methods in ...
In the Japanese phase II BOOSTER trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Saji et al found that compared with continuing paclitaxel/bevacizumab, a maintenance strategy of switching to endocrine therapy plus bevacizumab (with the option of reinitiating paclitaxel/bevacizumab) was associated with a...
In a study reported in JAMA Surgery, Hanson et al found no difference in long-term satisfaction with breasts among women with early breast cancer who underwent breast-conserving surgery with radiation therapy vs mastectomy and breast reconstruction without radiation therapy. Women who underwent...
In the PRADA study—reported by Thiruchelvam et al in The Lancet Oncology—researchers found that a strategy of preoperative radiotherapy and deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap reconstruction was feasible and safe in women requiring mastectomy for breast cancer. As stated by the...
Timothy A. Yap, MBBS, PhD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses results from the PETRA study, a first-in-class, first-in-human trial of the next-generation PARP1-selective inhibitor AZD5305 in patients with BRCA1/2, PALB2, or RAD51C/D mutations in advanced or metastatic ovarian cancer, HER2-negative breast cancer, pancreatic, or prostate cancer. Target engagement was demonstrated across all dose levels, and antitumor activity was observed in selected tumor and molecular subtypes.
Contrary to what has been assumed, all recurrences of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) are not genetically the same, according to a study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2022.1 Almost 20% of ipsilateral recurrences found in the study were genetically...
Breast density is one factor in assessing a person’s risk of developing breast cancer. Existing breast density notification laws have increased awareness among patients and providers, but clinical records had not been incorporated in studies to confirm the accuracy of personal breast density...
In an analysis from the Women’s Health Initiative reported in JACC: CardioOncology, Kerryn W. Reding, PhD, MPH, RN, of the University of Washington at Seattle, and colleagues, identified the incidence of hospitalization for heart failure among postmenopausal breast cancer survivors. They reported...
The “holy grail” of triple-negative breast cancer therapy has been effective incorporation of drugs to improve outcomes in the early nonmetastatic setting. Although outcomes have improved with better chemotherapy drugs and schedules, triple-negative breast cancer still carries the worst prognosis...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Peter Schmid, MD, PhD, of Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, and colleagues, a preplanned interim analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-522 trial has shown improved event-free survival with the addition of pembrolizumab to...
Taking aspirin daily does not prevent breast cancer recurrence, according to research presented during the February ASCO Plenary Series Program.1 Results of the double-blind phase III study of more than 3,000 patients with high-risk, HER2-negative breast cancer showed no improvement in invasive...
Genetics and other factors that can determine if a woman is at risk for a recurrence of breast cancer have been identified by investigators at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, providing new research avenues for preventing a new tumor from developing. The discovery was made possible...