Breast Cancer

Breast conserving therapy (BCT) improves overall survival compared with other local treatments in patients with stage I breast cancer, according to an examination of the National Cancer Database (NCDB).

Mark Sisco, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, NorthShore Univeristy HealthSystem, discusses the results of a NSQIP analysis of 30-day complications after bilateral versus unilateral mastectomy with immediate reconstruction

Sunil Verma, MD, MSEd, FRCPC, associate professor, University of Toronto, chair, Breast Medical Oncology, Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre, discusses targeting HER2 in early-stage breast cancer.

Although hormone-targeting strategies have been a mainstay of prostate and breast cancer therapies for decades, an improved understanding of the mechanisms underlying these malignancies has led researchers to focus fresh attention on the complex activity of the androgen receptor (AR) as a point of attack.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has released a new clinical practice guideline on the treatment of patients with advanced HER2-negative breast cancer.

Debu Tripathy, MD, co-leader, Women's Cancer Program, University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, provides an overview of the SystHERs registry.

The actress Angelina Jolie's decision to undergo a preventive double mastectomy after learning she carried the BRCA1 gene mutation-associated with an increased risk of breast and/or ovarian cancer-apparently sparked an "Angelina effect" on public health.

The combination of multiple independent factors minimized the impact of baseline stage for predicting locoregional recurrence (LRR) following neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer, according to a large retrospective analysis presented in advance of the 2014 Breast Cancer Symposium.

One of the first studies to prospectively examine women's breast surgery preferences has revealed that newly diagnosed women with breast cancer who decide to undergo contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM), may be making this decision as result of high anxiety and fear of recurrence, rather than relying on evidence-based information.

Postsurgery complications are infrequent among breast cancer patients undergoing surgery with reconstruction; however, according to a large database study, the rates of certain complications, including reoperation, blood transfusion, and implant loss, are higher with bilateral mastectomy versus unilateral mastectomy.

Women who received signed letters from their family physician along with scheduled postcard reminders are more likely to return for mammography screening than women who only received a postcard

Claudine Isaacs, MD, professor, medical director, Fisher Center for Familial Cancer Research, co-director, Breast Cancer Program, Georgetown University/Lombardi Cancer Center, discusses the importance of genetic counseling and the role of the genetic counselor

Hendrik-Tobias Arkenau, MD, PhD, medical director, Sarah Canon Research Institute, discusses an exploratory analysis of AZD4547 in patients with advanced tumors.

Although advances in endocrine therapy for women with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer have been made in recent years, de novo and acquired resistance to treatments remain important clinical problems, and efforts to identify effective modalities to overcome this challenge continue.

Although no cytotoxic agents are currently correlated with specific subtypes of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), recent findings indicate that targeting genomic stability, antimetastatic mechanisms, and protein expression characteristics are promising approaches for future TNBC treatments.

Olivia Pagani, MD, Institute of Oncology, Southern Switzerland, discusses the result of a joint analysis of two phase III trials involving a total of 4690 premenopausal women with hormone-receptor–positive (HR+) breast cancer who were treated with the aromatase inhibitor exemestane.

Adam M. Brufsky, MD, PhD, professor of medicine, associate chief, Division of Hematology/Oncology, University of Pittsburgh, discusses whether or not adjuvant bisphosphonates are ready to be a new standard of care in breast cancer.

A randomized multicenter trial examining the efficacy of adding dehydroepiandosterone (DHEA) to a vaginal bioadhesive moisturizer in postmenopausal survivors of breast or gynecologic cancer has found that daily rather than as-needed use of such a moisturizer significantly relieves symptoms of vaginal atrophy in these women.

Suzanne A. W. Fuqua, PhD, professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, discusses the Y537 hotspot in breast cancer.

Pfizer has submitted a New Drug Application for palbociclib plus letrozole as a frontline treatment for postmenopausal women with ER-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer, based on findings from the phase II PALOMA-1 trial.

Ruth M. O'Regan, MD, director, Translational Breast Cancer Research, professor, hematology and oncology, medical oncology, Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, discusses updates in the field of adjuvant therapy for HER2-positive breast cancer.

The favorable safety profile of T-DM1 makes it apt to be looked at in other settings of breast cancer.

The ever-evolving treatment landscape for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer leaves several questions unanswered regarding therapeutic sequences and whether an optimal standard of care exists.

Adam M. Brufsky, MD, PhD, professor of medicine, associate chief, Division of Hematology/Oncology, University of Pittsburgh, discusses future research into bisphosphonates.