Breast Cancer

Sara A. Hurvitz, MD, FACP, led a panel of breast cancer experts—Aditya Bardia, MD, MPH; Patrick Neven, MD, PhD; and Kevin Kalinsky, MD, MS—in a review of key data from the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in ER-positive breast cancer.

Sara M. Tolaney, MD, MPH, reviews practice-changing data sets throughout breast cancer and provides perspective on potential treatment approaches in the absence of definitive results.

Komal Jhaveri, MD, FACP, discusses the implications of the phase 2 TUXEDO-1 trial in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer with brain metastases.

Tiffany A. Traina, MD, discusses the implications of the phase 3 EMERALD trial in advanced estrogen receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer.

Komal Jhaveri, MD, FACP, discusses the implications of data from the phase 3 DESTINY-Breast03 trial in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.

Harold J. Burstein, MD, PhD, discusses treatment updates across HER2-positive breast cancer, adjuvant advances in estrogen receptor–positive disease, and the domino effect of immunotherapy in triple-negative breast cancer.

At a median follow-up of 3.5 years, adjuvant olaparib significantly improved overall survival vs placebo in patients with germline BRCA-mutated, HER2-negative, high-risk early breast cancer who received prior chemotherapy before or after surgery.

Leading oncologists in breast cancer share their perspectives on the biggest abstracts that were presented throughout 2021 .

Mutations on the ESR1 gene, which encodes the estrogen receptor, have emerged as an important driver of resistance to endocrine therapies, which form the backbone of treatment for patients with ER-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer.

Amcenestrant did not improve progression-free survival per independent central review vs physician’s choice of endocrine treatment in select patients with locally advanced or metastatic, estrogen receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, missing the primary end point of the phase 2 AMEERA-3 trial.

Aditya Bardia, MD, MPH, discusses the use of endocrine therapy in estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer.

Nancy E. Davidson, MD, discusses the future of HER2-targeted therapies in breast cancer.

The historical boundaries of what was possible in the management of patients with breast cancer continue to be challenged, evidenced by the use of HER2-directed therapies in patients with brain metastases, de-escalated approaches in patients with visceral disease, and less-invasive surgical techniques for patients with lymph node involvement.

The FDA has approved olaparib for the adjuvant treatment of patients with germline BRCA-mutated, HER2-negative, high-risk early breast cancer who have previously received chemotherapy either before or after surgery.

Tiffany Traina, MD, discusses the body of evidence supporting the use of CDK4/6 inhibitors in hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, shifting standards of care in HER2-positive disease, as well as biomarkers of response with checkpoint inhibitors and PARP inhibitors in triple-negative breast cancer.

Dr. Tripathy reviews the safety and efficacy data from a phase 2 non-randomized study of tucatinib-trastuzumab-capecitabine regimen in patients with leptomeningeal metastasis.

Closing out their discussion on novel therapies for HER2+ metastatic breast cancer, experts share excitement for future clinical trials and strategies.

The combination of ribociclib and letrozole resulted in a statistically significant improvement in overall survival vs letrozole alone in patients with postmenopausal, hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer, with this benefit continuing to increase over time, supporting the use of this combination as a frontline treatment in this population.

Sara A. Hurvitz, MD, discusses the benefit of trastuzumab deruxtecan in a subset of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer and active brain metastases in the phase 3 DESTINY-Breast03 trial.

Sara M. Tolaney, MD, MPH, discusses pivotal trials in HER2-positive breast cancer.

The United Kingdom’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has issued draft guidance recommending against pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy as a treatment for patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer whose tumors express PD-L1 with a combined positive score of 10 or more and who have not received chemotherapy for metastatic disease.

Clinical outcomes achieved with talazoparib in a real-world population of patients with HER2-negative, locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer harboring germline BRCA mutations proved to be consistent with those observed in the phase 3 EMBRACA trial.

Sara A. Hurvitz, MD, discusses the clinical implications of the phase 3 DESTINY-Breast03 trial in HER2-positive breast cancer.

Antibody-drug conjugates are innovative and effective therapeutic agents that have transformed the treatment landscape for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer and triple-negative breast cancer.

Sacituzumab govitecan resulted in a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival vs physician’s choice of chemotherapy in patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer who previously received endocrine therapy, CDK4/6 inhibitors, and 2 to 4 lines of chemotherapy, meeting the primary end point of the phase 3 TROPiCS-02 trial.