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Here, we review the current use of and potential next directions for CDK4/6 inhibitors in the treatment of patients with HR-positive breast cancer.
This video reviews controversies in the treatment of early-stage hormone receptor (HR)-positive breast cancer.
In this review, we will discuss multidisciplinary considerations in treating patients with neoadjuvant therapy and highlight areas of controversy and ongoing research.
The goals of care for patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive advanced breast cancer include prolongation of disease-free and overall survival, amelioration of symptoms, and improvement in quality of life.
While the administration of neoadjuvant chemotherapy is recommended for women with locally advanced breast cancer, its use in the primary operable setting has been debated and is the focus of this review.
Disease-free and overall survival have improved significantly for women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer. At the same time, systemic therapy has only slightly enhanced long-term outcomes in advanced breast cancer, a disease that remains largely incurable. Several single-agent and combination chemotherapy approaches are available to women with hormone-insensitive advanced disease that may improve overall survival and progression-free survival, minimize symptoms and complications related to the disease, and improve overall quality of life. In addition, new cytotoxic and targeted agents have been recently introduced into practice and have improved both survival outcomes and quality of life. In this review, we will provide an update on commonly used chemotherapy-based regimens for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer, with a focus on tailoring therapy to different subtypes of the disease.
Improvements in early diagnosis
and treatment of breast cancer over
the past few decades have clearly
reduced disease-related mortality. The
2000 Oxford Overview published recently
by the Early Breast Cancer Trialists’
Cooperative Group (EBCTCG)
highlights some of the widely practicable
adjuvant drug treatments that
were under investigation in the 1980s,
and have substantially reduced 5-year
recurrence rates as well as 15-year
mortality rates.[1] Optimal adjuvant
hormone therapy is associated with a
substantial improvement of disease
outcomes in hormone receptor–positive
women. Chemotherapy is also
associated with considerable benefits
in women with breast cancer, regardless
of age, stage, or hormone receptor
status. However, chemotherapy is
not without risks. The treatment is
associated with many adverse events
that may significantly affect a patient’s
quality of life while she is receiving
treatment. Other effects may be longstanding,
permanent, and, rarely, lifethreatening.
Improvements in early diagnosis
and treatment of breast cancer over
the past few decades have clearly
reduced disease-related mortality. The
2000 Oxford Overview published recently
by the Early Breast Cancer Trialists’
Cooperative Group (EBCTCG)
highlights some of the widely practicable
adjuvant drug treatments that
were under investigation in the 1980s,
and have substantially reduced 5-year
recurrence rates as well as 15-year
mortality rates.[1] Optimal adjuvant
hormone therapy is associated with a
substantial improvement of disease
outcomes in hormone receptor–positive
women. Chemotherapy is also
associated with considerable benefits
in women with breast cancer, regardless
of age, stage, or hormone receptor
status. However, chemotherapy is
not without risks. The treatment is
associated with many adverse events
that may significantly affect a patient’s
quality of life while she is receiving
treatment. Other effects may be longstanding,
permanent, and, rarely, lifethreatening.
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