Breast Cancer

Anthracyclines and taxanes remain a backbone in the early-stage setting of triple-negative breast cancer as further evaluations of immunotherapy in the neoadjuvant and adjuvant settings needs to be conducted—efforts that will continue to shape the treatment paradigm.

A panel of experts who treat breast cancer close out a discussion on the use of newer therapies, including CDK4/6 inhibitors, based on outcomes demonstrated by recent clinical trials.

Breast oncologists review the appropriateness for treating a patient with ER-positive, PR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer with systemic therapy, with special considerations regarding sequencing therapy if using a CDK4/6 inhibitor as adjuvant therapy.

Andrew Seidman, MD, comments on results of the PRIME II study presented at SABCS and the appropriateness for radiation therapy in certain patient populations with HR-positive breast cancer.

Sophia George, PhD, discusses actionable pathogenic variants in patients with breast cancer who live in the Caribbean.

Judith E. Hurley, MD, discusses the baseline characteristics of patients with breast cancer in the Caribbean vs those in the United States.

Findings from recent analyses have kindled hope that novel agents with manageable toxicity profiles may begin to bridge the gap for patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.

Although the majority of the patient population is made up of women, males represent 1 in 100 cases diagnosed in the United States each year.

Patrick Borgen, MD, discusses the prognosis of breast cancer in male patients.

Javier Cortés, MD, PhD, discusses the incidence and management of male patients with breast cancer in Spain.

Sara A. Hurvitz, MD, discusses the incidence of male breast cancer in the United States.

Aditya Bardia, MD, MPH, discusses the integration of ADCs and immunotherapy into the treatment landscape in metastatic TNBC and the future of AKT inhibitors in the field.

Dr Massimo Cristofanilli, of the Feinberg School of Medicine, describes the PENELOPE-B study of palbociclib and endocrine therapy for patients with HR-positive breast cancer at high risk of relapse after neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Dr Sara Tolaney comments on recent updates of the monarchE trial of abemaciclib and adjuvant endocrine therapy for high-risk early stage breast cancer as presented at SABCS 2020.

Six indications for immune checkpoint inhibitors granted under the FDA’s accelerated approval process that later failed confirmatory clinical trials are being reassessed as the agency continues an industry-wide evaluation of the pathway.

The FDA's accelerated approval of sacituzumab govitecan-hziy in April 2020, filled a previously undefined role for antibody-drug conjugates in patients with triple-negative breast cancer.

The field of triple-negative breast cancer is pushing to improve treatment by answering questions regarding biomarkers of response, defining the utility of neoadjuvant approaches, and exploring potential combinations with checkpoint inhibitors and PARP inhibitors.

Prognosis and treatment recommendations for patients with breast cancer and brain metastases rely heavily on the tumor subtype; however, evolving evidence demonstrates that receptor expression and subtype grouping may change during the course of the patient’s disease.

There are a number of strategies to reduce margin positivity, particularly after partial mastectomy, but the relative effectiveness of each varies, as do the data that support their use.

Patrick Borgen, MD, discusses treatment strategies for patients with male breast cancer.

Treatment strategies for patients with breast cancer, especially the combination of anthracyclines and HER2-targeted therapies, come with an increased risk of heart failure and cardiac toxicity.

Promising techniques in surgical oncology are on the horizon for the treatment of lymphedema, an incurable adverse event that can often arise after certain types of breast cancer treatment.

Olaparib and talazoparib failed to demonstrate statistically significant improvements in overall survival compared with chemotherapy in pretreated patients with BRCA1/2-mutant metastatic HER2-negative breast cancer. However, the results are unlikely to affect the drugs’ utility in practice, given that both agents continue to show favorable tolerability and disease control

Margetuximab represents an effective new therapeutic option that can be combined safely with a chemotherapy drug of choice for patients with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer who have undergone multiple lines of prior treatment.

Experts highlight the risk factors, comorbidities, diagnosis, economic burden, and treatments for brain metastasis in metastatic breast cancer based on data presented at the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.