Breast Cancer

Results from a nationwide clinical trial, which were presented at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting, indicate that adding pembrolizumab to standard therapy before surgery offers the potential for improving outcomes in this patient population.

The use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy increases eligibility for breast-conserving therapy in triple-negative breast cancer patients, yet many still opt for mastectomy.

Patients with HER2-negative breast cancer with residual invasive disease following neoadjuvant chemotherapy benefit from adjuvant treatment with capecitabine.

The use of a four-gene signature identified a series of subgroups of triple-negative breast cancer, including one subtype that was responsive to platinum-based chemotherapy in the metastatic setting.

For premenopausal breast cancer patients, 24 weeks of neoadjuvant chemotherapy may yield a better clinical response than endocrine therapy.

Dual HER2 blockade was superior to single blockade in postmenopausal women with HER2-positive, HR-positive metastatic breast cancer.

The addition of pertuzumab to trastuzumab and chemotherapy improved invasive disease–free survival in patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer.

The investigational third-generation nonsteroidal oral selective estrogen receptor degrader RAD1901 was associated with a 23% objective response rate among 40 heavily pretreated women with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer.

Adding ipatasertib to first-line paclitaxel modestly improved progression-free survival in women with triple-negative breast cancer.

The PARP inhibitor olaparib increases progression-free survival and improves quality of life in BRCA-mutated HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer patients.

Abemaciclib plus fulvestrant was linked with improved response and PFS in patients with endocrine-resistant, HR-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer.

Palbociclib alone and in combination with endocrine therapy offers clinical benefit among women with HR-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer.

Breast cancer survivors, including those with estrogen receptor–positive tumors, can safely become pregnant, according to a new study.

Atezolizumab was approved for treating patients with metastatic non–small-cell lung cancer who experienced disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy. Now, it turns out this agent may have a role in combating breast cancer.

Final results from two large phase III trials confirm that the drug-antibody conjugate trastuzumab emtansine improves overall survival over other treatment options in patients with previously treated HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.

Final 10-year follow-up of a large phase III trial showed that adding gemcitabine to anthracycline and taxane-based adjuvant chemotherapy increases toxicity and does not improve disease-free survival in early breast cancer patients.

Treatment with metformin may improve outcomes in patients with HER2–positive primary breast cancer and diabetes, according to an analysis of the phase III ALTTO trial.

Breast-conserving surgery and mastectomy are equivalent treatments for invasive breast cancer patients in terms of overall survival. For the majority of patients, successful breast conservation requires a margin-negative lumpectomy and access to WBRT. CPM yields no definitive survival advantage.

This article will detail current management approaches to achieving breast conservation in patients with invasive breast cancer, including cases of bulky tumors and/or multiple tumors.

In this interview we discuss important developments in the diagnosis and management of breast cancer and more.

Treatment with the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist goserelin can reduce the risk of chemotherapy-induced premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) in women with early breast cancer.

Oral osteoporosis therapy was associated with improvements in event-free survival and distant disease-free survival in post-menopausal women with breast cancer receiving adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy.

Patient education can improve adherence to skin-care plans and reduce radiation dermatitis among patients undergoing radiotherapy for breast cancer.

A study of African American women found that drinking 7 or more alcoholic drinks a week was associated with an elevated risk for breast cancer of all subtypes.

The 2013 ASCO/CAP updates to HER2 testing guidelines did not result in changes to the rate of HER2 positivity among breast cancer patients.

Results of a new study suggest that breast cancer–related lymphedema is strongly associated with multimodality treatment, including chemotherapy, and not axillary node surgery alone.

Trimodality therapy achieved improved locoregional control among a cohort of women with nonmetastatic inflammatory breast cancer.

Women who undergo bilateral mastectomy for the treatment of DCIS may be overtreated, according to the results of a new study.

A new study is suggesting that testing for variants in seven cancer-associated genes followed by risk-reduction management could cost-effectively improve life expectancy for women at risk for hereditary breast cancer.

Adding the PARP inhibitor veliparib to carboplatin and paclitaxel chemotherapy regimens failed to prolong overall survival in lung and breast cancers.