Breast Cancer

Early-stage breast cancer patients who receive a more intensive course of radiation to their whole breast over 3 weeks is as effective as the standard, less-intensive 5-week whole-breast radiation and offers patients more convenience at a lower cost, thereby providing a better quality of life, according to a randomized, long-term study presented September 22, 2008, in the plenary session at the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO), held in Boston.

Acupuncture is as effective and longer-lasting in managing the common debilitating side effects of hot flashes, night sweats, and excessive sweating (vasomotor symptoms) associated with breast cancer treatment and has no treatment side effects compared to conventional drug therapy, according to a first-of-its-kind study presented September 24, 2008, at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology’s 50th Annual Meeting in Boston.

WASHINGTON-Loss of HER2 positivity is common among women with initially HER2-positive breast cancer who do not have a pathologic complete response (pCR) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy with trastuzumab (Herceptin), according to a report at the ASCO 2008 Breast Cancer Symposium (abstract 150).

This installment of Second Opinion examines the case of a patient with a new diagnosis of breast cancer presenting to our multidisciplinary breast cancer second opinion clinic.

Carcinomas arising from the breast represent a heterogeneous group of tumors of distinct biologic subtypes that have been shown to be diverse in terms of response to therapy and prognostic outcomes.

The Metastatic Breast Cancer Advocacy Working Group, a cooperative of patient advocates from seven countries, released a consensus report urging other advocacy groups, health-care corporations and professionals, government, academia, community/religious organizations, and all other relevant breast cancer stakeholders worldwide to take action on three priority areas for women living with metastatic breast cancer (MBC)

As Calabrich and colleagues illustrate in their comprehensive review in this issue of ONCOLOGY, there is a seemingly endless array of mechanisms by which the HER2-positive breast cancer cell can escape the control of trastuzumab (Herceptin).

WASHINGTON-Molecular breast imaging appears to be a promising adjunctive modality for breast cancer screening among women with an elevated risk of breast cancer who have dense breast tissue, according to a report at the ASCO 2008 Breast Cancer Symposium (abstract 68).

In 2008, it is estimated that over 1 million women worldwide will be diagnosed with breast cancer, of which 172,695 will be classified as “triple-negative.”[1] The triple-negative phenotype encompasses a breast tumor subtype that is clinically negative for expression of the estrogen and progesterone receptors (ER and PR) and lacks overexpression of the HER2 protein, with unique prognostic and therapeutic implications.

Some clinical trials of HER2-targeted therapies have found that patients assessed to have HER2-negative breast cancer nonetheless derive benefit. Is this a real benefit stemming from unrecognized biological factors in the adjuvant setting?

Measuring a woman’s bone mineral density (BMD) can provide additional information that may help to more accurately determine a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer, according to a new study in the journal Cancer.

A meta-analysis by Australian and European researchers indicates that MR staging identifies additional disease in nearly one of five women previously diagnosed with breast cancer. It also suggests that women may undergo more extensive surgeries than originally planned because of false-positive MR findings.

Factors such as age at menopause and a woman’s breast-feeding practices can influence her risk of developing certain types of breast cancer. That was the conclusion of a new study to be published in the October 1, 2008, issue of CANCER. The study’s results suggest that there are distinct and separate hormonal risk factors associated with different subtypes of breast cancer.

CHICAGO-In the adjuvant setting, capecitabine (Xeloda) proved inferior to standard chemotherapy in older women with early-stage breast cancer, according to study results from the University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington.

CHICAGO-The addition of trastuzumab (Herceptin) to the arsenal of breast cancer agents has elevated the prognosis of HER2-positive patients to that of HER2-negative patients, according to an institutional review from M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

In this article, we review the underlying biology and pharmacology behind lapatinib and summarize clinical trials with lapatinib. We also describe the ongoing clinical trials that use lapatinib as part of adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapy. These trials could change the standard of care in the next few years.

Measuring a woman's bone mineral density can provide additional information that may help to more accurately determine a woman's risk of developing breast cancer. That is the conclusion of a new study to be published in the September 1, 2008, issue of CANCER.

Mastectomy rates have been on the upswing at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and researchers cited MRI as a factor influencing the increase.

There is no doubt women at high risk for breast cancer need to be screened more aggressively than the general population. Thanks to extensive research-not to mention a nod from the American Cancer Society as a screening tool-MRI has leapt ahead of other imaging modalities as the preferred modality in a high-risk population.

Anthracyclines have been a cornerstone in the adjuvant treatment of breast cancer for more than 25 years and have well-established risks and benefits. But new molecular assays may make it possible to predict which women will benefit from this therapy, and new agents may offer better alternatives.

CHICAGO-The insulin sensitizer metformin may increase the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in diabetic patients with breast cancer, according to a retrospective study presented at ASCO 2008 (abstract 528).

Two years after her first mammogram the patient, EC, noticed swelling and skin changes in one breast. A bone scan, chest and abdomen CT, and PET scan were negative for metastatic spread, staging the cancer at IIIB.

CHICAGO-In recurrent or metastatic breast cancer, the addition of bevacizumab (Avastin) significantly improved progression-free survival over treatment with docetaxel (Taxotere) alone, European investigators reported at ASCO 2008 (abstract LBA-1011).

Positive data were reported from the first-ever randomized, multicenter, open-label phase III trial of the combination of two targeted agents, lapatinib (Tykerb) and trastuzumab (Herceptin), in women with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. The study results, which were presented at the annual ASCO meeting in Chicago, demonstrated a benefit from the combination (abstract 1015).

CHICAGO-For breast cancer patients whose tumors have become resistant to available agents, restoring the sensitivity to treatment is an important goal. Preclinical studies have suggested that drugs that inhibit the mTOR protein kinase-which acts as a central regulator of tumor cell division, cell metabolism, and blood vessel growth-may be able to do so.