Breast Cancer

NEW YORK-Studies leading up to FDA approval last year of a new aromatase inactivator, exemestane tablets (Aromasin, Pharmacia & Upjohn), were reviewed at the Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium XVII.

CHICAGO-A new ultrasound technology that amasses as much as nine times more information than conventional ultrasound provides greater detail in characterizing breast lesions and also allows real-time tracking of the entire path of the breast biopsy needle, Jacques Souquet, PhD, senior vice president and chief technology officer at ATL Ultrasound (Bothell, Washington), said in an interview with ONI.

Patients with one of the most common and curable forms of breast cancer may be undergoing radiation therapy unnecessarily, according to a University of Southern California (USC) study published in the May 13, 1999, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. The study, headed by Melvin J. Silverstein, MD, medical director of the Harold E. and Henrietta C. Lee Breast Center at the USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, examined ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).

TOWSON, Md-Evidence is mounting that dose escalation with conventional cytotoxic drugs appears to have no significant advantage over standard chemotherapy in metastatic breast cancer, said Antonio C. Wolff, MD, assistant professor of oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

NEW YORK-“African-American women face a substantially higher risk of dying from breast cancer than others in this country and tend to be diagnosed with the disease at a younger age,” Lisa A. Newman, MD, assistant professor of surgery at M.D. Anderson’s Nellie B. Connally Breast Center, said at a Komen Foundation press briefing on clinical trials. The explanation for these variations is unclear at this point, she said.

VIENNA, Austria-Breast cancer management has booked steady progress thanks to the integration of new chemotherapeutic and biologic agents into standard regimens and the development of sequential and dose-dense schedules of administration, Larry Norton, MD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, said at the 10th European Cancer Conference (ECCO 10).

BUFFALO, NY-Breast cancer offers a paradigm for cancer prevention issues. It has been shown that lower exposure to estrogen results in a lower risk of breast cancer. However, a decrease in overall estrogen may pose health risks for women such as increased risk for heart disease. Thus, patients and physicians must evaluate all options available, said Richard M. Elledge, MD, medical director of the Breast Care Center at Baylor College of Medicine-The Methodist Hospital, Houston.

ROCKVILLE, Md-The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new indication for Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Taxol (paclitaxel) for use in the adjuvant treatment of node-positive breast cancer administered sequentially to standard doxorubicin-based combination therapy. The approval does not exclude patients with receptor-positive tumors, even though a subgroup analysis of the supporting data suggested no benefit in this group.

NEW YORK-An organization that has pushed for early diagnosis and better treatment of breast cancer in the United States is expanding its outreach to other countries. “Affiliates of the Dallas-based Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation are opening this year in Italy, Greece, and Argentina, and one probably will open in Germany next year,”said Susan Braun, president and CEO.

CLEVELAND-Preliminary results suggest that breast cancer survivors who attend a 3-day nature retreat designed for women who have been treated for breast cancer may realize positive biological and psychological health benefits for as long as a year after the event.

A 15-year study published in the June 1, 1999, issue of Cancer offers further hope to premenopausal breast cancer patients who might want to bear children. According to the study of 520 women £ 40 years old, pregnancy after breast cancer diagnosis and successful treatment does not increase a patient’s risk for recurrence or death from the disease. This is particularly true for women with local disease at diagnosis.

NEW YORK-To increase enrollment in clinical trials, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation of Dallas is launching a well-funded initiative. Issues to be addressed include overcoming barriers to participation by physicians as well as by patients, the organization’s founder, Nancy Brinker, said at a press briefing that included a panel of foundation leaders and physicians with expertise in clinical trials.

TOWSON, Md-Mammoscintig-raphy and sentinel node radiolocaliza-tion, “both hot topics at the leading edge of breast imaging,” are increasingly appropriate in the diagnosis and care of breast cancer, said Carlo Ludovico Maini, MD, director of nuclear medicine, Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, Rome, Italy.

DANBURY, Conn-Trex Medical Corporation has announced the launch of its Vision of Health Initiative, a new philanthropic program that will commit up to $100,000 a year to health education, research, and patient support programs across the country. Trex Medical has chosen the National Alliance of Breast Cancer Organizations (NABCO) as the first grant recipient. NABCO is a nonprofit organization providing information and resources on breast cancer.

NEW YORK-Premenopausal women who are at risk for breast cancer recurrence may benefit from a new chemopreventive agent, according to the lead researcher of a clinical trial of women with early stage breast cancer. And the agent holds promise for use as a primary chemopreventive in healthy high-risk premenopausal women.

WASHINGTON-Older American women are more aware of mammography and are using the procedure for breast cancer screening in increasing numbers, but ignorance and misconceptions about mammography persist, according to a new survey.

BUFFALO, NY-The role of preoperative chemotherapy in breast cancer treatment is still being debated, according to speakers at the Surgical Oncology Symposium hosted by Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

Premenopausal women with early breast cancer have a significantly better chance of living longer when treated with a chemotherapy regimen that includes epirubicin (Ellence), as opposed to a current standard combination regimen, according to data presented at the 35th meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

DALLAS-Consumption of seaweed and soy may contribute to the lower rates of postmenopausal breast cancer seen in Japan, and seaweed/soy supplementation could be a potential cancer preventive in this country, Jane Teas, PhD, of the University of South Carolina, said at the Susan G. Komen Foundation National Grant Conference.

BUFFALO, NY-The National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) is currently conducting follow-up for a trial that may change the course of breast cancer treatment. The aim of trial B-18 is to determine whether surgery should remain the dominant treatment for breast cancer or should be considered as adjuvant therapy, Norman Wolmark, MD, said at a surgical oncology symposium, hosted by Roswell Park Cancer Institute. Dr. Wolmark is chair of the NSABP and chair of Human Oncology at Allegheny General Hospital.

EAST HANOVER, NJ-If you are a breast cancer patient with bone pain, don’t ignore it; see your doctor. That is the primary message behind an educational campaign Novartis Oncology is launching directly to patients. The campaign encourages women to pay attention to persistent bone pain if they have or have had breast cancer, and to notify their doctor about it. A critical component of the campaign is to help women understand that there are treatment options for metastatic bone pain.

SILVER SPRING, Md-The Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) unanimously recommended that the FDA approve Taxol (paclitaxel for injection, Bristol-Myers Squibb) for use in the adjuvant treatment of node-positive breast cancer administered sequentially to standard doxorubicin-based combination therapy.

For many women under 40 years of age with breast cancer, surgery to remove the cancerous lump and accompanying radiation therapy seem to be the best option for eradicating the disease and preserving the natural breast. However, for women who carry a damaged version of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene, thus predisposing them to breast cancer, such treatment may be insufficient. Researchers at Jefferson Medical College have found that these women are at greater risk years later of either relapsing or developing new tumors than are similarly treated women who do not carry one of these genes.

TOWSON, Maryland-“Mammography is still the gold standard for the screening and diagnosis of breast cancer, but that doesn’t mean it is always done right,” said Gilda Cardenosa, MD, head of breast imaging at the Cleveland Clinic. “There is a lot of bad mammography out there, even with all the regulations that are in place.”

The editor of Breast Cancer is Daniel F. Roses, MD, a professor of surgery at New York University and director of the Comprehensive Breast Cancer Center at that institution. Its contributors include Pat Borgen, MD, from Memorial Sloan-Kettering, Armando Giuliano, MD, from the University of California, Alison Estabrook, MD, from St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital, Frea Schnabel, MD, from Columbia-Presbyterian, David Page, MD, from Vanderbilt University, Larry Norton, MD, from Memorial Sloan-Kettering, and John Neiderhuber, MD, from the University of Wisconsin Medical Center. All of these notable individuals have made significant contributions to the management of patients with breast cancer.