Treatment of HER2-positive cancers has improved rapidly over the past decade, and the pace of progress continues to accelerate. The advances have been fueled in part by the conduct of neoadjuvant studies, which have aided in the development of novel therapies and more effective combination regimens.
Bevacizumab (Avastin) improved progression-free survival (PFS) in women with HER2-positive locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer by an average of 3 months when added to standard treatment as first-line therapy in the multinational, randomized, phase III AVEREL study.
Results of 4 trials involving bisphosphonates in a range of protocols and patient cohorts suggest that the role of these agents in preventing recurrence of breast cancer remains to be defined. In 2 of the 4 studies reported, favorable outcomes were obtained following intravenous administration of zoledronic acid. Neither of two trials in which a bisphosphonate was administered orally, however, achieved its primary endpoint.
Although some preventive steps can now be taken by women to reduce environmental factors that contribute to breast cancer risk, much more research is needed to clarify the role of recognized and suspected environmental factors, according to a new report issued by the Institute of Medicine.
Updated findings from the pivotal phase III Breast Cancer Trials of Oral Everolimus (BOLERO-2) study confirm dramatic improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) in women with metastatic breast cancer when the immunosuppressant agent is combined with the hormonal therapy exemestane.
Addition of pertuzumab to a standard chemotherapy combination of trastuzumab and docetaxel led to a 38% reduction in risk of disease worsening or death in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, reported investigators from the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase III CLEOPATRA study.
At this year’s San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, new data results from four different clinical trials of bisphosphonate usage in patients with breast cancer will be presented and discussed.
The San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium brings together basic science researchers and clinicians for the latest breast cancer research-related progress. The symposium has evolved from a 1-day local conference to a 5-day international meeting focusing on clinical, preventive, diagnostic, translational, and basic research.
Cancer Network interviews Kent Osborne, who is the moderator of the year in review session. He has been involved with the meeting since its beginning. The international San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium is unique as it facilitates the interaction of both basic and science researchers and clinicians to combine the efforts of laboratory research and clinical research for better treatment and patient care.
Is estrogen plus progestin better than estrogen alone for symptom relief in menopausal women? For women who have not had a hysterectomy, adding progestin to estrogen therapy counteracts the increased risk of uterine cancer from estrogen monotherapy. However, the progestin and estrogen combination increases breast cancer risk. The combination treatment also comes with its own side effects, including breast tenderness, which ranges from 8% to 15% of patients in randomized clinical trials.
In a Canadian study of more than 14,000 breast cancer survivors over 65 years of age, current use of tamoxifen appears to be associated with a small increased risk of diabetes. The findings do not mean tamoxifen is a direct cause of diabetes in this patient population, the study authors emphasized, but they said its use may increase diabetes risk in older women who already have known risk factors for diabetes, such as obesity or a family history of the disease.
The US Food and Drug Administration announced today that it has revoked the approval of bevacizumab for breast cancer due to the potentially life-threatening side effects associated with the treatment. It was approved for metastatic breast cancer in February 2008, but data later showed that along with an increase in side effects, there was no increase in overall survival.
Resection of liver metastases represents a major advance of the last few decades in the treatment of colorectal cancer.
Hepatic metastases remain a lethal and recalcitrant problem in the management of malignant disease, and the review by Drs. Zani and Clary of the role of hepatic metastasectomy for patients with stage IV melanoma or breast cancer is timely and welcome.
This review summarizes the existing literature that addresses the topic of metastasectomy in patients with melanoma and breast cancer.
The results of a trial comparing concurrent versus sequential trastuzumab and chemotherapy as adjuvant treatment of breast cancer has shown an improved efficacy without increased toxicity for the concurrent regimen.
Breast and ovarian cancer patients with limited tumor burden and minimal prior chemotherapy appear to have benefited from a novel vaccine.
Researchers have developed a novel way to molecularly target and kill cancer cells, called photoimmunotherapy. The method uses a monoclonal antibody against the epidermal growth factor coupled to a near-infrared dye. The result is a target-specific photosensitizer that causes specific cell death of cells bound by the antibody when NIR light is applied.
A new prospective study has shown that cancer detection using digital film mammography has outcomes similar to the much less expensive film-screen mammography technique. Sensitivity of digital mammography was found to be higher, however, for specific subpopulation cohorts.
A new study has found that cumulative alcohol consumption in women is a risk factor for breast cancer. Even low levels of drinking were found to be linked to a small increase in breast cancer risk according to research published in today’s issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)
A study published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology analyzed triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) for distinguishing characteristics. The study compared clinical, pathological, and hormone-related lifestyle characteristics of 1469 women aged twenty to forty-nine.
The National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM) organization, which began its campaign in 1984, is a partnership of more than a dozen national professional medical associations, public service organizations, and government agencies that work together year-round to promote awareness of breast cancer, share up-to-date information about the disease, and provide greater access to screening services.
This article will review current management trends for women with classical lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS).
The aim of this article is to review the preclinical data and rationale for PARP inhibitor use in the aforementioned settings, as well as the current status of the clinical development of these agents in the treatment of breast cancer, along with future directions for research in this field.
In this review, we describe the evidence linking obesity to breast cancer recurrence, discuss the potential biological mechanisms through which weight could impact breast cancer prognosis, and review the weight-loss intervention studies that have been performed in breast cancer populations to date.
The review by Jennifer Ligibel, MD, approaches a topic of increasing importance-namely the role of obesity in breast cancer incidence and clinical outcome-in a comprehensive and up-to-date fashion, focusing on obesity and its influence on breast cancer recurrence and associated survival.
