Over the past decade, the oncology community has made significant progress in the development of highly effective treatment modalities for breast cancer. Moreover, our increasing knowledge of the molecular biology of cancer has engendered the potential to use gene expression profiling, molecular fingerprinting, and biomarkers to add increased, patient-specific value to our clinical decision making. More than ever, today’s clinician must keep up to date on the rapid scientific advances in breast cancer management.

For oncologists battling breast cancer in the clinic, one of the most difficult decisions is choosing the optimal adjuvant therapy, one that balances the fine line between efficacy and toxicity. Clifford A. Hudis, MD, Chief, Breast Cancer Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, tackled this difficult clinical discussion in an interview with ONCOLOGY.

Internationally renowned breast cancer scientist, V. Craig Jordan, OBE, PhD, DSc posed an important question: Where do we go from here in endocrine therapy. In an interview with ONCOLOGY, Dr. Jordan highlighted some of the fundamental clinical issues that he explored during his presentation, “Challenges to Improve Adjuvant Endocrine Therapy.”

Next-generation genomic assay technologies are revolutionizing our ability to characterize cancers at the genomic levels, providing critical prognostic and predictive information for individual patients with breast cancer, thereby helping to guide treatment decisions. According to Harold J. Burstein, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, these emerging technologies will change the way we treat breast cancer.

Nationally recognized breast cancer specialist Eric P. Winer, MD, presented two lectures at this year’s MBCC, “Strategies for Patients with Refractory HER2-Positive Breast Cancer,” and “Addressing Menopausal Symptoms and Fertility in Breast Cancer.” In an exclusive interview with ONCOLOGY, Dr. Winer explained how hormonal therapy can best be used in the difficult stetting of metastatic disease.

Dr. Debu Tripathy, co-course director for the 27th Annual Miami Breast Cancer Conference sheds light on his presentation, The Role of Maintenance Therapy for Metastatic Breast Cancer, truly a complicated and controversial topic.