Patient, Provider and Caregiver Connection™: Addressing Patient Concerns During the Treatment and Management of HR+/HER2- Breast Cancer
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Oncology Consultations®: Next Generation SERDs—Key Data and Practical Takeaways for the Community Physician
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Multidisciplinary Management of TNBC: Immunotherapy, PARP, TROP2, Oh My!
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Medical Crossfire®: Leveraging Multidisciplinary Teams in Early–Stage Breast Cancer When the Goal is Cure
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23rd Annual International Congress on the Future of Breast Cancer® East
July 19-20, 2024
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Community Practice Connections™: 14th Annual International Symposium on Ovarian Cancer and Other Gynecologic Malignancies
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Community Practice Connections™: The Advent of TROP2-Targeted Treatment Approaches in HR+/HER2- Breast Cancer
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Community Practice Connections™: Controversies and Conversations About HER2- Expressing Breast Cancer…Advances in Management of HER2-Low to -Positive Disease
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Show Me the Data™: Do We Have Sea Change for Novel Approaches in HR+/HER2- Breast Cancer? CDK, PI3K/AKT, ADC, and Next-Gen SERD Strategies Assessed
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Cancer Summaries and Commentaries™: Clinical Updates from Chicago in Breast Cancer
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42nd Annual CFS®: Innovative Cancer Therapy for Tomorrow®
November 13-15, 2024
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Community Practice Connections™: 5th Annual Precision Medicine Symposium – An Illustrated Tumor Board
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Community Oncology Connections™: Overcoming Barriers to Testing, Trial Access, and Equitable Care in Cancer
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42nd Annual Miami Breast Cancer Conference®
March 6 - 9, 2025
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The Evolving Tool Box in Advanced HR+/HER2– Breast Cancer: What You Need to Know About Next-Generation SERDs, PI3K/AKT, ADCs, CDK4/6 and Beyond…
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Coffee Talk™: Navigating the Impact of HER2/3, TROP2, and PARP from Early Stage to Advanced Breast Cancer Care
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Quality of Life Issues in the Treatment of Metastatic Breast Cancer
March 1st 1998The treatment of metastatic breast cancer involves the sequential selection and delivery of hormonal therapies and cytotoxic chemotherapies. The available therapies for metastatic breast cancer are rarely curative, although high rates of response and modest prolongation of survival may be achieved in association with varying degrees of treatment-related toxicity.
Few BRCA-1 Carriers Take Recommended Precautions
February 1st 1998SAN ANTONIO-Genetic testing for breast cancer susceptibility appears to confer no adverse psychological effects on mutation carriers or individuals who refuse to be tested, Caryn Lerman, PhD, reported at a general session of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
Lifelong Weight Control a Key to Breast Ca Prevention
February 1st 1998Washington-Available methods to prevent breast cancer might be bettered compared to a flu shot “which hurts and only lasts a year,” than to a polio vaccine, “which comes on a sugar cube and lasts a lifetime,” Malcolm C. Pike, PhD, said at the Department of Defense’s “Era of Hope” meeting.
Patient Brochure on Breast Cancer Tumor Markers
February 1st 1998MALVERN, Penn-Centocor, Inc., a manufacturer of cancer diagnostics, including the CA 15-3 radioimmunoassay serum tumor marker for breast cancer monitoring, has produced a brochure for patients on the early detection of breast cancer recurrence. The pamphlet reviews the need for regular physical exams and laboratory testing, the signs and symptoms to look for between exams, and the role of tumor marker assays in monitoring. The brochure is free to health care providers, cancer organizations, and the public. Write to Breast Cancer Tumor Markers and Follow-up Care, PO Box 1883, Southeastern, PA 19399-1883.
Single-Agent Taxanes in Advanced Breast Cancer: A Commentary
February 1st 1998Taxanes have been established in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer, and two presentations at the 20th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium provide additional data to more clearly delineate the indications and potential use of these agents.
Breast Cancer Diagnosed After Childbirth May Be More Severe
February 1st 1998WASHINGTON-Studies indicating an increased risk of breast cancer in the years immediately after giving birth were not borne out by an investigation at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Linda S. Cook, PhD, reported at the Department of Defense’s “Era of Hope” breast cancer conference. A second study presented at the meeting shows that when breast cancers do occur immediately after childbirth, they are likely to be more severe.
Army Meets Challenge of Breast Cancer Research Program
February 1st 1998WASHINGTON-The success of the US Army’s Breast Cancer Research Program (BRCP) stems from the intersection of research and advocacy, said participants in a press conference at the Department of Defense’s Era of Hope conference. More than 550 investigators who received awards from the BRCP from 1992 to 1995 were invited to present their research at the meeting. “My greatest joy and passion in this work is the partnerships among the medical community, the Department of Defense, and breast cancer survivors,” said Col. Irene Rich, DNSc, director of the U.S. Army’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program.
NCI Funds DDT-Breast Disease Study
February 1st 1998BETHESDA, Md-The possible link between the pesticide DDT and breast cancer or benign breast disease will be explored among women in the northern Alabama community of Triana. The study by researchers from the National Cancer Institute and the University of Alabama in Huntsville College of Nursing will begin Feb. 15, with results available in 1999.
HMO vs Fee-for-Service Care for Breast Cancer
February 1st 1998Breast cancer patients age 65 years and older who were enrolled in one of two large western not-for-profit health maintenance organizations (HMOs) experienced long-term survival equal to or better than counterparts living in the same geographic areas who received breast cancer care under the traditional fee-for-service (FFS) system. The HMO members were also more likely than the FFS patients to receive breast-conserving surgery and to have adjuvant radiation therapy recommended for early-stage breast cancer. The study by Arnold L. Potosky, phD, National Cancer Institute, and colleagues was reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Weekly Paclitaxel Is Effective in Advanced Breast Cancer Study
February 1st 1998SAN ANTONIO-A weekly outpatient paclitaxel (Taxol) regimen led to rapid responses in more than 40% of a group of heavily pretreated women with metastatic breast cancer, said Dr. Hans-Joachim Luck, of the Medical University of Hannover, Germany. [See page 30 for a commentary on single-agent taxanes in this setting.]
Higher Response Rates With Docetaxel Than Doxorubicin Used Alone in Advanced Breast Cancer
February 1st 1998SAN ANTONIO-Docetaxel (Tax-otere) has produced higher response rates than doxorubicin in a large European clinical trial in women with advanced breast cancer, marking the first time doxorubicin has been outperformed by any other single chemotherapeutic agent, John Crown, MD, reported for the International 303 Study Group, at a general session of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. [See page 30 for a commentary on single-agent taxanes in this setting.]
ODAC Rejects Neomark, a Prognostic Test for Breast Cancer
February 1st 1998BETHESDA, Md-The Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC), citing problems with the study data presented to it, voted not to recommend to the FDA that it approve Neomark (broxuridine for injection, NeoPharm) “for use as a cell proliferation marker to determine the Labeling Index in breast cancer.”
Study Compares Effects of Antiestrogens on Bone and Lipids
February 1st 1998SAN ANTONIO-Toremifene (Fareston), a recently approved anties-trogen, appears to have similar effects to those of tamoxifen (Nolvadex) on bone mineral density and potentially greater beneficial effects on serum lipoproteins in postmenopausal women with breast cancer, Tiina Saarto, MD, said at her poster presentation at the 20th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
NSAID Use Does Not Appear to Affect Risk of Breast Cancer
February 1st 1998WASHINGTON-Use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may reduce risk of colon cancer, but apparently has little or no impact on breast cancer risk, said Patricia F. Coogan, ScD, of the Slone Epidemiology Unit, Boston University School of Medicine, Brookline, Mass.
Chemotherapy Plus Tamoxifen May Be Better Than Tamoxifen Alone—NSABP Study
January 1st 1998Researchers from the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) announced the results of a large-scale trial designed to determine a more effective treatment for women with breast cancer. Results from this study, published
Update on Breast Cancer Chemoprevention Trials
January 1st 1998SAN ANTONIO-With several tamoxifen (Nolvadex) chemoprevention trials now complete or nearing completion, “over the next 2 to 3 years, we will be able to see whether tamoxifen or other analogs will prevent breast cancer,” said Trevor J. Powles at the 20th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. He expressed confidence that these trials will prove that tamoxifen can prevent “a substantial amount of breast cancer in some populations of women.”
Self-Reported Use of Mammography Among Women ³ 40 Years Old
January 1st 1998In 1997, breast cancer will be diagnosed in an estimated 180,200 women, and 43,900 women will die from the disease. Early detection combined with timely and appropriate treatment can alter the progress of and reduce mortality from this
Update of Letrozole Pivotal Trials in Advanced Breast Cancer
January 1st 1998SAN ANTONIO-The pivotal multinational phase III trials of the aromatase inhibitor letrozole (Femara) showed it to be clinically superior to both megestrol acetate and aminoglutethimide in the treatment of advanced breast cancer that relapses during or after therapy with tamoxifen (Nolvadex), said Ian Smith, MD, of the Royal Marsden Hospital, Sutton, UK.
Reduced Breast Cancer Risk Among Women With Implants?
January 1st 1998The widespread impression that breast implants increase the risk of developing breast cancer has little supportive evidence, according to a recent report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Authors Louise A. Brinton and S. Lori Brown
Arguments Against Mammograms for Age 40-49 Refuted
January 1st 1998PHILADELPHIA-The American Cancer Society was on the right track in their March 1997 recommendation that women in their 40s have screening mammograms for detection of breast cancer, Thomas Jefferson University’s Stephen Feig, MD, said at a breast cancer symposium at Fox Chase Cancer Center. At the same time, he took to task the NIH consensus panel, which looked at the same data and did not recommend mam-mography screening for this age group.
Doxorubicin-Paclitaxel Combination Active in Metastatic Breast Cancer: ECOG Phase II Trial
January 1st 1998SAN ANTONIO-A phase II trial conducted by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) of doxorubicin plus paclitaxel (Taxol) with G-CSF (filgrastim, Neupogen) in metastatic breast cancer produced an overall response rate of approximately 50%, with a median response duration of about 4 months, said Joseph A. Sparano, MD, of Albert Einstein Cancer Center, New York City, at the 20th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. However, complete responses were uncommon.
Metastatic Breast Cancer Responds to Docetaxel, Doxorubicin, Cytoxan
January 1st 1998SAN ANTONIO-A taxane-containing combination therapy has led to major objective responses in 75% to 80% of patients with metastatic breast cancer. Overall, 35 of 48 evaluable patients responded to the combination of docetaxel (Taxotere), doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide, said Jean-Marc Nabholtz, MD, senior medical oncologist at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Integration of New Therapies into the Management of Breast Cancer
January 1st 1998Speakers at this international workshop, which was held in Lisbon, Portugal, on June 28, 1997, addressed the integration of new treatment strategies, including paclitaxel (Taxol), into the management of women with breast cancer.
High-Dose Chemo ‘Disappointing’ in Advanced Breast Cancer
January 1st 1998PHILADELPHIA-Simply giving ever higher doses of chemotherapy does not generally lead to improved survival in metastatic breast cancer. “For 20 years we’ve been exploring this approach, and the response has been uniform and uniformly disappointing,” Larry Norton, MD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, said at a symposium held at the Fox Chase Cancer Center.
Bernard Fisher Speaks at Fox Chase Cancer Center
January 1st 1998In a lecture at Fox Chase Cancer Center, noted breast cancer researcher Bernard Fisher proclaimed his triumph against agencies that had accused him of scientific misconduct in his directorship of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel
Metastatic Breast Cancer: Experience with the Combination Paclitaxel Plus Epirubicin
January 1st 1998This study evaluated the safety and feasibility of the combination of paclitaxel (Taxol) and epirubicin, the 4¢-epimer of doxorubicin, in women with metastatic breast cancer. A total of 85 patients with histologically proven