Breast Cancer

Steven J. Chmura, MD, PhD, discussed recent findings from the phase 2R/3 NRG-BR002 trial in patients with newly diagnosed oligometastatic breast cancer.

Gynecologists and physicians, in concert with mothers, are key not only to a woman’s early awareness of both breast cancer and mammography but to awareness of breast cancer risk factors as well.

Cancer programs seek to remove barriers to screenings.

Alexander B. Olawaiye, MD, discusses how social and biological determinants can affect care outcomes across cancer subtypes and what steps community and academic oncologists can take to ensure these disparities are recognized.

Novel therapies could potentially expand the population of patients with ERBB2-positive metastatic breast cancer who experience long-lasting disease response, according to a review in JAMA Oncology.

A quality improvement study in JAMA Network Open has found that a significantly lower percentage of patients with breast cancer presented with stage I disease before the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2019, compared to after the start of the pandemic, in 2020.

Trastuzumab deruxtecan resulted in a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival and overall survival compared with physician’s choice of chemotherapy in patients with HER2-low unresectable and/or metastatic breast cancer, irrespective of hormone receptor status, meeting the primary and secondary end points of the phase 3 DESTINY-Breast 04 trial.

The campaign emphasizes the importance of annual cancer screenings with the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul

Investigators of the SWOG S1007 RxPONDER trial found a statistically significant improvement in invasive disease-free survival and distant relapse-free survival in premenopausal women who received adjuvant chemotherapy.

Compared with tamoxifen, aromatase inhibitors were revealed to be more effective in reducing the rate of recurrence in ER+ breast cancer among premenopausal women receiving ovarian suppression.

In using the biomarker approach to the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer, the challenge for the clinician is prioritizing the available treatment options based on the National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines for breast cancer, which focus on active agents, preferred single-agent chemotherapy approaches, and doublet options for certain patients at high risk.

Certain post-menopausal women with HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer may be able to only undergo endocrine therapy after surgery – sparing themselves from the chemotherapy side effects.

The addition of palbociclib to endocrine therapy was not associated with preventing disease recurrence in patients with hormone receptor (HR)–positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)–negative early breast cancer, according to final results of the phase 3 PALLAS trial.

The study results — which were presented during the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium — indicated that elacestrant, a selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD), led to a 30% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death compared with standard of care in the study population.

Olaparib, which was granted priority review by the FDA, has been shown to improve invasive disease-free survival for patients with BRCA-mutated HER2-negative high-risk early breast cancer.

Findings from a study indicated that non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native patients with breast cancer were more likely to undergo a mastectomy compared with non-Hispanic White patients.

A recently published study evaluated nearly 30,000 patients and found about 5% of Black and White women have the same genetic mutations that are associated with an increased risk of breast cancer.

Disparities across the globe continue to surface as we approach year 2 of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in health care. As one considers its implications, a research team from the American Cancer Society investigated its potential impact on early cancer detection.

A recent study suggests that unconscious or implicit bias may exist when it comes to physicians referring African American patients with breast cancer for genetic counseling and testing.

Paul Lawrence Baron, MD, discussed best practices for determining a patient’s risk of developing breast cancer, the significance of targeting HER2 in patients with early-stage and metastatic disease, and remaining questions with radiation therapy in the field.

Standard chemotherapy has historically been the mainstay of treatment for patients with diagnoses of early-stage TNBC, but there remains an unmet need to identify novel therapies that improve outcomes and, equally important, to discern which patients may benefit from a given treatment.

Sara Hurvitz, MD, discusses the coopERA study and how these data, along with findings from other clinical trials, could lead to significant changes in treatment for patients with ER-positive/HER2-negative breast cancer.

Preclinical data shows this investigational vaccine’s potential in preventing triple-negative breast cancer and inhibiting existing tumor growth.

Medically underserved and minority breast cancer survivors experienced improved outcomes and quality of life after participating in community-based physical activity programs, according to recent study results.

They added that this is one of the first proofs of concept illustrating the power of an AI model for identifying parameters associated with relapse that the human brain could not detect.

As we move beyond COVID-19, the healthcare industry is just beginning to uncover the impact of delayed cancer screenings and care on oncology outcomes.

The FDA has approved the Ki-67 IHC MIB-1 pharmDx test to assist in determining which patients with early breast cancer who are at high risk of disease recurrence might benefit from adjuvant treatment with abemaciclib plus endocrine therapy.

In honor of October 13 as National Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day, Contemporary OB/GYN® has collected its top metastatic breast cancer articles over the past year.

The FDA has approved abemaciclib in combination with endocrine therapy for the adjuvant treatment of adult patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative, node-positive, early breast cancer at high risk of recurrence and a Ki-67 score of 20% or higher, as determined by an FDA-approved test.

Analyzing the relationship between data from patient self-reports and clinician ratings of vulvovaginal tissue health following cancer can help provide better sexual function treatment for patients, according to a recent study.