Marie-Jeanne T.F.D. Vrancken Peeters, MD, PhD, on Omitting Breast Surgery: Results of the MICRA Trial
2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium
Marie-Jeanne T.F.D. Vrancken Peeters, MD, PhD, of the Netherlands Cancer Institute, discusses an interim study analysis showing that ultrasound-guided core biopsies of the breast in patients with excellent response on MRI after neoadjuvant systemic therapy may not be accurate enough to safely select patients with pathologic complete response for omission of surgery (Abstract GS5-06).
Icro Meattini, MD, of the University of Florence, discusses study findings that showed the less-invasive partial-breast irradiation using intensity-modulated radiotherapy after surgery may be an acceptable choice for patients with early breast cancer, as it is cost-effective, safe, and efficacious when compared with whole-breast irradiation (Abstract GS4-06).
Miguel Martín, MD, PhD, of the Gregorio Marañón Institute and GEICAM, discusses phase III study findings that showed no improvement in progression-free survival with palbociclib plus endocrine therapy vs capecitabine in patients with hormone receptor–positive/HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer whose disease progressed on aromatase inhibitors—although the drug combination was generally better tolerated than capecitabine (Abstract GS2-07).
Ralph R. Weichselbaum, MD, of the University of Chicago, summarizes a plenary lecture in which he presented data that could guide future clinical strategies: studies supporting the basis and classification of oligometastatic disease, including breast cancer; and basic and clinical data on radioimmunotherapy (Abstract PL2).
Tari A. King, MD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber/ Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center, discusses retrospective findings from the AURORA U.S. Network on molecular differences between primary tumors and metastases, a better understanding of which may help lead to more effective treatment of metastatic breast cancer (Abstract GS3-08).
Milan Radovich, PhD, of Indiana University School of Medicine, discusses trial findings that show patients with triple-negative breast cancer who are at high risk of relapse after receiving preoperative chemotherapy can be risk-stratified based on the presence of minimal residual disease as determined by circulating tumor DNA and circulating tumor cells (Abstract GS5-02).