Breast Cancer

ASCO-Substituting epirubicin for methotrexate in a commonly used adjuvant regimen significantly increased survival for premenopausal women with node-negative early-stage breast cancer in a randomized study by the Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group and Swedish Oncology Centers reported at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting

NEW ORLEANS-The diagnosis of breast cancer is becoming less invasive and far more accurate, said Steve H. Parker, MD, director of the Sally Jobe Breast Centre, Denver. Dr. Parker delivered the plenary lecture at the American Society of Breast Disease annual meeting, cosponsored by the Ochsner Medical Foundation.

NEW ORLEANS-Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) remains strongly associated with the development of breast cancer in the minds of many. But the discerning clinician should “go beyond P values and relative risk” and use the known data to make decisions regarding this issue, John C. Arpels, MD, said at the American Society of Breast Disease annual meeting.

ASCO-A multicenter, open-label, phase II study has confirmed results of the pivotal study of capecitabine (Xeloda) for treatment of taxane-refractory metastatic breast cancer. In this study, 25% of patients with measurable disease treated with capecitabine responded, with a median duration of response of 8.3 months, median time to progression of 3.2 months, and median survival of 12.3 months.

We evaluated combination therapy for advanced and recurrent breast cancer with cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan), doxorubicin (Adriamycin), uracil and tegafur (UFT), and tamoxifen (Nolvadex) (CAUT), designed as

Paclitaxel (Taxol) is one of the most active drugs in the treatment of ovarian and breast cancers. Combination therapy with paclitaxel and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) exhibits high activity in anthracycline-pretreated breast cancer,

This is a phase I dose-escalation study of uracil and tegafur (in a molar ratio of 4:1 [UFT]) administered in combination with calcium folinate and paclitaxel in metastatic breast cancer. This trial was initiated to 1)

Uracil and tegafur (in a molar ratio of 4:1 [UFT]) has proven activity against breast cancer and is delivered in an easy-to-administer oral formulation. Orzel, which combines UFT with the oral biomodulator, calcium folinate, may

Use of continuous-infusion 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer has met with some success in recent years. In order to build on this experience, investigators at the Royal Marsden Hospital and

This phase I study was designed to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and dose-limiting side effects of combination treatment with paclitaxel (Taxol) and UFT (uracil and tegafur in a 4:1 molar ratio) plus oral

A trial was designed to examine the combination of UFT and mitomycin (Mutamycin) plus tamoxifen (Nolvadex) as postoperative adjuvant therapy in the treatment of patients with stage II, estrogen receptor (ER)-positive

This phase I study was undertaken to define the maximum tolerated dose, dose-limiting toxicity, and recommended dosage of UFT (uracil and tegafur) plus oral calcium folinate (Orzel) and vinorelbine (Navelbine) in

The NCI brushed aside the concerns of some cancer advocacy groups and decided to begin the Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene (STAR),expected to be one of the largest breast cancer prevention trials ever. Raloxifene (Evista) was approved

Results of a study published in a recent issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine suggest that, in the near future, a simple blood test that detects levels of sex hormones could predict which women are at highest risk of developing breast cancer.

To determine whether a shorter course of radiation treatment may be associated with an improvement in quality of life (QOL), investigators at William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Michigan, compared the QOL of women with early-

Baylor-Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center and Physician Reliance Network (PRN) Research recently announced data demonstrating that one in five patients with hard-to-treat metastatic breast cancers responded to capecitabine (Xeloda) even

Some Medicare managed care organizations (MCOs) are telling beneficiaries that they need to get a referral from one of the plan physicians before they can get a mammogram. But that is not what the law says. A woman can get an annual, routine

ORLANDO-A series of clinical studies presented at the 52nd Annual Cancer Symposium of the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) addressed various aspects of breast cancer diagnosis, staging, and treatment.

ORLANDO-Dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can identify women who have unsuspected multicen-tric/multifocal breast cancer and are therefore not candidates for breast conservation therapy, Michael J. Kerin, MD, reported in a plenary presentation at the 52nd Annual Cancer Symposium of the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO).

ASCO-Updated results of a phase III trial show that the addition of the anti-HER2/neu monoclonal antibody (MoAb) Herceptin (trastuzumab) to chemotherapy improves survival in patients with metastatic breast cancer, compared with chemotherapy alone.

Problem: Several million women worldwide have survived breast cancer but are currently advised against the use of estrogen for the management of menopausal symptoms and for the prevention of early cardiovascular death and osteoporosis.

Based on a keynote address given by Marie Overgaard, md, at the 1998 American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) meeting. Dr. Overgaard is consulting oncologist, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark, as

States would be allowed the option to provide Medicaid coverage for women with breast and cervical cancer through the

ORLANDO-Breast cancer patients whose tumors respond to induction chemotherapy and who have no clinical axillary node disease following induction may be safely treated with axillary irradiation rather than axillary lymph node dissection, Jeffrey Lenert, MD, said at the Society of Surgical Oncology’s Annual Cancer Symposium.

Zeneca Pharmaceuticals has launched a nationwide educational campaign about breast cancer risk assessment and the use

ALEXANDRIA, Va-Preliminary findings from four of five randomized studies show no survival advantage for high-dose chemotherapy/autologous bone marrow transplantation (HDC/ABMT) in breast cancer patients with metastatic or high-risk disease (10 or more positive axillary lymph nodes), researchers said at an ASCO teleconference.

ORLANDO-Large numbers of younger breast cancer survivors living with chemotherapy-induced menopause are at increasingly high risk for osteo-porosis and heart disease.

Fornier et al present an excellent summary of current treatment options and strategies for patients with metastatic breast cancer. This review summarizes currently available data (through the May 1998 American Society of Clinical Oncology

Drs. Fornier, Munster, and Seidman provide a comprehensive update of the management of metastatic breast cancer. They review the latest innovations in both chemotherapy and hormonal therapy for advanced disease, and demonstrate just how

There are several million breast cancer survivors worldwide. In the United States, 180,000 women were