Breast Cancer | Specialty

Four FDA Approvals, Two Priority Reviews, and 2015 SABCS Highlights

December 17th 2015

Gargi Basu on Alterations in the Cell Cycle Checkpoint Pathway in Breast Cancer

December 17th 2015

Gargi D. Basu, PhD, senior director of Clinical Curation, Ashion Analytics, discusses a study that examined alterations in the cell cycle checkpoint pathway in patients with breast cancer.

Palbociclib Improves Cell Cycle Control in ER-Positive Breast Cancer

December 14th 2015

Palbociclib enhances cell cycle control when added to anastrazole in the neoadjuvant setting in women with ER-positive primary breast cancer.

FDA Approves Cooling Cap to Reduce Alopecia During Chemotherapy

December 14th 2015

The Dignitana DigniCap Cooling System, a computer-controlled device aimed to reduce the severity and frequency of hair loss in patients who receive neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer, has been cleared by the FDA as the first cooling cap for use in the United States.

Pembrolizumab Continues to Show Promise in Breast Cancer

December 12th 2015

The PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab had an overall response rate of 12% in PD-L1–positive patients with ER-positive/HER2-negative advanced breast cancer.

Neratinib DFS Benefit Sustained in 3-Year ExteNET Update

December 12th 2015

The oral pan-HER TKI neratinib continued to show similar rates of disease-free survival for patients with HER2-positive early-stage breast cancer at a 3-year analysis of the phase III ExteNET trial.

Dr. Patricia Ganz on Anastrozole versus Tamoxifen Side Effects in DCIS Patients

December 11th 2015

Patricia Ganz, MD, UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses a study comparing anastrozole versus tamoxifen in patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) breast cancer.

Dr. Joanne Blum on the EMBRACA Trial in Metastatic BRCA-Mutant Breast Cancer

December 11th 2015

Joanne Blum, MD, PhD, oncologist with Texas Oncology and a member of the Breast Cancer Committee for The US Oncology Network, discuses the EMBRACA trial.

Buparlisib Modestly Improves PFS in HR-Positive Advanced Breast Cancer

December 11th 2015

Treatment with the PI3K inhibitor buparlisib plus fulvestrant showed a 1.9-month extension in progression-free survival compared with fulvestrant alone in women with endocrine-resistant HR-positive/HER2-negative advanced breast cancer.

APOBEC3B Overexpression Linked to Tamoxifen Resistance

December 11th 2015

The enzyme APOBEC3B has been associated with resistance to treatment with tamoxifen in retrospective studies and xenograft models of ER-positive breast cancer.

Estrogen Receptor Mutations Linked to Lower Survival in HR+/HER2- Breast Cancer

December 11th 2015

Estrogen receptor mutations are prevalent and associated with poorer survival in patients with pretreated HR+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer.

Study Links pCR After Neoadjuvant Therapy to Improved Survival in TNBC

December 10th 2015

Achieving a pCR with standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy plus carboplatin and/or bevacizumab was associated with a survival improvement in patients with triple-negative breast cancer.

Complications, Costs Higher With Mastectomy Versus Lumpectomy for Early Breast Cancer

December 10th 2015

The risk of complications from mastectomy plus reconstruction was increased by two-fold compared with lumpectomy plus whole breast irradiation, after adjustment for other treatment differences.

Reuben Harris on How Tamoxifen Resistance May be Driven by APOBEC3B

December 10th 2015

Reuben S. Harris, PhD, investigator Howard Hughes Medical Institute and professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics at the University of Minnesota College of Biological Sciences, explains the role APOBEC3B may play in tamoxifen resistance in ER-positive breast cancer.

Atezolizumab/Nab-Paclitaxel Combo Shows High Response Rates in TNBC

December 10th 2015

Frontline treatment with the PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab combined with nab-paclitaxel showed a confirmed objective response rate of 66.7% in patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer.

Neoadjuvant Carboplatin Improves Disease-Free Survival in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

December 10th 2015

Adding carboplatin to neoadjuvant chemotherapy improves disease-free survival significantly in women with triple-negative breast cancer but not HER2-positive breast cancer.

FDA Grants Priority Review to Palbociclib in Pretreated HR+/HER2- Breast Cancer

December 10th 2015

The FDA has granted a priority review to a supplemental new drug application for palbociclib (Ibrance) for use in combination with fulvestrant in pretreated patients with HR-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer.

Dr. Whitworth on the Importance of Additional HER2 Subtyping

December 10th 2015

Pat Whitworth, MD, medical oncologist at the Nashville Breast Center, discusses the prospective neo-adjuvant NBRST study, which looked at BluePrint functional subtyping versus conventional immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) in breast tumors.

Prophylactic Intervention Improves Cardiac Safety in HER2-Positive Breast Cancer

December 10th 2015

Prophylactic administration of standard heart failure medications helped preserve left ventricular ejection fraction in patients treated with trastuzumab for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.

Dr. Goetz on Adjuvant Capecitabine Following Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy and Surgery

December 10th 2015

Matthew Goetz, MD, medical oncologist, professor of Oncology, associate professor of Pharmacology, andprofessor of Pharmacology at Mayo Clinic, discusses a phase III study looking at capecitabine (Xeloda) in patients with residual breast cancer following neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgery.