Breast Cancer

Sara M. Tolaney, MD, MPH, instructor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, attending physician of medical oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses neoadjuvant HER2-directed therapy.

While several biomarkers have been identified in patients with breast cancer, including ESR1 and PIK3CA mutations, not all of these are driver mutations that can be effectively targeted with treatment.

Experts are trying to determine whether combination regimens with additional HER2-directed therapies or alternative therapies could improve responses in HER2-positive breast cancer without added toxicities.

The European Commission has approved the use of fulvestrant (Faslodex) to treat estrogen receptor-positive, locally-advanced or metastatic breast cancer in postmenopausal women not previously treated with endocrine therapy.

Checkpoint inhibitors against PD-1 and PD-L1 have shown promise, both as monotherapies and in combination with chemotherapy for patients with triple-negative breast cancer.

Joyce O'Shaughnessy, MD, provides an update on existing research and a look at the future of novel therapeutic strategies for metastatic triple-negative breast cancer.

The FDA has approved neratinib (Nerlynx) for the extended adjuvant treatment of patients with early stage, HER2-positive breast cancer following postoperative trastuzumab.

Arti Hurria, MD, director, Cancer and Aging Research Program, co-leader, Cancer Control and Population Sciences Program, professor, Department of Medical Oncology and Therapeutics Research and Department of Population Sciences, discusses treatment for the geriatric patient population with breast cancer.

Hope S. Rugo, MD, a professor of Medicine and director of the Breast Oncology Clinical Trials Program at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses extended adjuvant hormone therapy for patients with breast cancer.

Mark D. Pegram, MD, associate director, clinical research, director, Breast Cancer Program, Stanford Cancer Institute, discusses the current treatment landscape for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.

Adam M. Brufsky, MD, PhD, professor of Medicine, associate chief of Hematology/Oncology, co-director of the Comprehensive Breast Care Center, associate director of Clinical Investigation, University of Pittsburgh, discusses the 5 versus 10 year disease-free survival of aromatase inhibitors investigated in the NSAPB B-42 trial.

The FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 16-0 to recommend approval to MYL-1401O, the trastuzumab (Herceptin) biosimilar manufactured by Mylan Pharmaceuticals.

Harold J. Burstein, MD, PhD, senior physician, associate professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the results of the APT trial investigating adjuvant paclitaxel and trastuzumab (Herceptin) for node-negative HER2-positive breast cancer.

The FDA has granted a priority review to a new drug application for the CDK4/6 inhibitor abemaciclib as a treatment for patients with advanced hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer.

The triplet combination of HER2-targeted therapy and an aromatase inhibitor improved progression-free survival by more than 5 months compared with the combination of trastuzumab (Herceptin) and an aromatase inhibitor in patients with HER2+/HR+ breast cancer.

Denise Yardley, MD, senior investigator at the Sarah Cannon Research Institute, discusses the results of the APT and APHINITY trials for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.

Joyce A. O'Shaughnessy, MD, whose research helped establish capecitabine and gemcitabine as treatments for patients with breast cancer, was honored in the Community Outreach/Education category with a 2016 Giants of Cancer Care® award, a program that OncLive® developed to recognize leaders in the field.

Adam M. Brufsky, MD, PhD, professor of Medicine, associate chief of Hematology/Oncology, co-director of the Comprehensive Breast Care Center, associate director of Clinical Investigation, University of Pittsburgh, discusses CDK 4/6 inhibitors in neoadjuvant breast cancer treatment.

Rachel A. Freedman, MD, MPH, associate clinical director, Breast Oncology Center, Susan F. Smith Center for Women's Cancers, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, senior physician, assistant professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, discusses dual HER2-targeted therapies in breast cancer.

Preliminary evidence suggests that abemaciclib penetrated brain metastases and had antitumor activity in patients with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer.

Researchers have yet to determine the degree to which harboring a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation raises a woman’s lifetime risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer.

Jennifer Ligibel, MD, describes the BWEL trial and the possible impact of weight loss intervention for patients with breast cancer.

The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, a part of the European Medicines Agency, recommended approval of ribociclib (Kisqali) for use in combination with an aromatase inhibitor as a first-line treatment for postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive /HER2-negative locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer.

Harold J. Burstein, MD, PhD, senior physician, associate professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the 7-year follow-up of the APT trial investigating adjuvant paclitaxel and trastuzumab (Herceptin) for node-negative HER2-positive breast cancer.

Denise Yardley, MD, senior investigator at the Sarah Cannon Research Institute, discusses the APHINITY trial investigating pertuzumab (Perjeta) for patients with adjuvant HER2-positive breast cancer.