Breast Cancer

Margaret E. Gatti-Mays, MD, MPH, FACP, discusses considerations for selecting between FDA-approved companion diagnostic assays for measuring PD-L1 expression in triple-negative breast cancer.

Although fewer deaths were reported with neratinib in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer treated on the phase 3 ExteNET trial, the agent was not found to result in a significant improvement in overall survival after 8 years of follow-up.

Stratification by the molecular 70-gene risk prediction signature revealed that patients with estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer who are low risk for disease recurrence derive greater benefit from tamoxifen, while those who are high risk have greater benefit from goserelin vs no endocrine therapy.

The practice-changing results and implications from the RxPONDER trial for early-stage HR+ breast cancer is discussed.

Conflicting results from the phase 3 monarchE, PENELOPE-B, and PALLAS trials have thrown the role of adjuvant CDK4/6 inhibition into question in patients with high-risk, early-stage hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer.

Priyanka Sharma, MD, and Lajos Pusztai, MD, PhD, review recent results from the RxPONDER trial looking at the predictive value of the Oncotype DX RS on benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy in women with lymph node-positive, HR+, HER2- breast cancer.

Experts in breast cancer provide a historic perspective on the use of the Oncotype DX recurrence score (RS) in patients with HR+, HER- breast cancer and review practical implications from the TAILORx trial.

Kelly de Ligt, PhD, discusses subgroups of symptom burden seen in breast cancer survivors.

Chau T. Dang, MD, discusses the safety profile of pertuzumab plus trastuzumab in patients with HER2-positive locally advanced, inflammatory, or early-stage breast cancer.

Effective early detection and optimal management are critical in preventing high-grade interstitial lung disease, a treatment-related adverse effect of fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.

Distinct gene signatures, with the exception of estrogen receptor signaling and BRCAness, are associated with pathologic complete response and invasive disease-free survival, in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer who received trastuzumab and pertuzumab alone or in combination with paclitaxel.

Charles Powell, MD, MBA, discusses the risk of interstitial lung disease in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer treated with trastuzumab deruxtecan.

The differentiated TROP2-directed antibody-drug conjugate datopotamab deruxtecan was found to have promising antitumor activity with a manageable safety profile in heavily pretreated patients with triple-negative breast cancer.

Approximately 30% of breast cancer tumors can covert from, or to, HER2-low status, underscoring the need to retest for HER2 expression upon relapse.

Although administering trastuzumab for 1 year in patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer continues to be standard, a 9-week de-escalation approach may be a reasonable option in a large proportion of the real-world HER2-positive population.

Leonie Voorwerk, discusses outcomes with the combination of atezolizumab plus carboplatin in metastatic lobular breast cancer, which was evaluated as part of the phase 2 GELATO trial.

Thomas Bachelot, MD, PhD, discusses the role of the combination of tucatinib plus trastuzumab and capecitabine in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer who have central nervous system metastases.

Pier Franco Conte, MD, discusses long-term outcomes with 1 year vs 9 weeks of treatment with adjuvant trastuzumab in patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer.

Ribociclib plus endocrine therapy improved overall survival and post-progression outcomes in pre- or postmenopausal patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer irrespective of age.

Treatment with atezolizumab plus carboplatin demonstrated early clinical activity in patients with metastatic invasive lobular breast cancer, with slight trends toward increased clinical benefit in patients with triple-negative ILC and responders with higher PD-L1 expression, according to initial findings of the non-randomized phase 2 GELATO trial.

Post-treatment care for breast cancer survivors must be personalized to address each survivor’s unique experiences.

Olwen Hahn, MD, discusses the clinical significance of the KATHERINE and FeDeriCa trials in the treatment of patients with early-stage HER2-postive breast cancer.

Although checkpoint inhibition has been shown to benefit some patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, there is not yet a role for immune-based treatment in the neoadjuvant setting.

Olwen Hahn, MD, discusses the impact of trastuzumab emtansine on the treatment of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.

The selective estrogen receptor degrader amcenestrant has demonstrated antitumor activity with acceptable safety in patients with estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer.