With tremendous advances and the accelerated approval of atezolizumab plus nab-paclitaxel for patients with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic PD-L1–positive triple-negative breast cancer, provider education in identifying associated toxicities from checkpoint inhibitor therapy is critical.
Hope S. Rugo, MD, director, Breast Oncology and Clinical Trials Education, University of California San Francisco Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the therapeutic advancements in the breast cancer space in the past 20 years.
Debu Tripathy, MD, professor and chairman, Department of Breast Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses combination strategies being investigated with CDK4/6 inhibitors in breast cancer.
The introduction of PARP inhibitors into the breast cancer treatment paradigm is a clinically meaningful advance for patients with germline BRCA1/2 mutations but much more research must be conducted to optimize their use.
The previously demonstrated progression-free survival benefit from the addition of alpelisib to fulvestrant appeared consistent among subgroups of patients with hormone receptor–positive/HER2-negative advanced breast cancer who have a PIK3CA mutation.
For more than 100 years, endocrine therapy has been used for the treatment of breast cancer; since that time, we have learned much about the role of estrogen in the biology of normal breast cancer development.
Each gene expression-based test available for risk prediction in patients with breast cancer has unique properties and they are not interchangeable, placing importance on the clinical studies used to validate the clinical utility of each assay.
Elizabeth A. Mittendorf, MD, PhD, director of the Breast Immuno-Oncology Program at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center, discusses the frontline approval of atezolizumab in combination with nab-paclitaxel in patients with locally advanced or metastatic PD-L1
Sara A. Hurvitz, MD, director of the Breast Oncology Program, medical director of the Clinical Research Unit, University of California, Los Angeles Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the recent FDA approval of subcutaneous use of trastuzumab (Herceptin) and hyaluronidase-oysk injection (Herceptin Hylecta) in the HER2-positive breast cancer space.
After nearly 30 years as a breast cancer surgeon, Patrick I. Borgen, MD, finds that the most enduring theme in the field is constant change.
The breast cancer field is experiencing rapid advancements in the understanding of disease biology and the development of novel therapeutic strategies for several subtypes, with a clear direction toward personalized or precision medicine.
Data from the SHAVE and SHAVE2 trials, in terms of long-term outcomes vis-à-vis local recurrence, may lend some insight into the impact of adjuvant therapy on reducing the ramifications of a positive margin.
Jean-Bernard Durand, MD, discusses the possibility of repairing cardiac damage in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.
Employing preclinical detection using bioimpedance spectroscopy, breast centers are reporting progression to clinical lymphedema in less than 10% of patients at high risk of developing the condition.
Andrew Seidman, MD, focuses on his view of the increasing role of nurse practitioners in the outpatient setting and hospitalists in the inpatient setting.
Whenever 3 agents joining the therapeutic armamentarium do so for similar indications with essentially identical mechanisms of action, it is reasonable to ask whether these agents have specific differences that might help decide which to use.
Neoadjuvant therapy can eliminate both invasive and in situ carcinoma in up to 50% of patients, particularly when their subtypes are triple-negative disease or HER2-positive cancers.
Abemaciclib (Verzenio) has quickly amassed several clinical indications for patients with metastatic breast cancer, and is the only CDK4/6 inhibitor approved as a single agent.
Patrick I. Borgen, MD, chairman of surgery, director of the Breast Cancer Program, Maimonides Medical Center, and chair of the Miami Breast Cancer Conference, discusses the evolution of breast cancer treatment in recent years. Borgen shared his insight in an interview during the meeting.
Sara A. Hurvitz, MD, director of the Breast Oncology Program at the University of California, Los Angeles, Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses novel agents that are emerging in the HER2-positive breast cancer space. Hurvitz shared this insight in an interview with OncLive during the 35th Annual Miami Breast Cancer Conference.
Endocrine therapy can achieve tumor reduction for patients with ER-positive breast cancer, possibly avoiding the need for chemotherapy or even surgery in some patients; however, deciding how long to continue this therapy can be tricky.
The latest revision of the staging manual for breast cancer from the American Joint Committee on Cancer is a quantum leap toward precision oncology, as it codifies advanced knowledge of the role of biologic factors in cancer, and oncologists should now be using it.
The PARP inhibitors have finally become available for patients with BRCA-mutant metastatic breast cancer, ushering in a potential new era for targeted therapies with studies currently ongoing in the adjuvant setting and exploring combinations.
The discovery of crosstalk between the HER2 and hormone receptor pathways has led to the promising treatment strategy of dual targeting regimens.
Several new agents have emerged in HER2-positive breast cancer with the potential to further alter the natural course of the disease.
Mark E. Robson, MD, chief, Breast Medicine Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses an exploratory analysis of the OlympiAD trial for patients with HER2-negative breast cancer with a germline BRCA1/2 mutation.
Palbociclib (Ibrance) demonstrated significant efficacy in combination with letrozole (Femara) in the frontline setting of estrogen receptor-positive, HER2-negative, postmenopausal metastatic breast cancer.
Fabrice André, MD, professor, Department of Medical Oncology, Institut Gustave Roussy, discusses the remaining questions with immunotherapy agents as potential therapy for patients with triple-negative breast cancer. Andre expanded on this in an interview with OncLive during the 35th Annual Miami Breast Cancer Conference.
William J. Gradishar, MD, interim chief of hematology and oncology, Department of Medicine, Betsy Bramsen Professorship of Breast Oncology, professor of medicine (hematology and oncology), Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, discusses the utilization of genetic testing in breast cancer to identify actionable results for patients.
The progression-free survival benefit for ribociclib in pre- or perimenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer was sustained across patient subgroups, according to findings from the phase III MONALEESA-7 trial.
