BREAST CANCER

Palbociclib (Ibrance) has been approved by the FDA for use in combination with fulvestrant in pretreated patients with HR-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer.

Twelves says a common misconception in breast cancer is that with the current flood of new treatments in HER2-positive breast cancer, the issue of breast cancer overall has been largely addressed.

Hamilton says there are currently not very many "good" drugs for treating these metastases. She adds that the mainstay for treating these metastases is usually some form of radiation therapy, such as whole brain radiation.

Beitsch says that while having a study that incorporates several thousands of patients will potentially produce statistically significant results, these larger groups may not account for subtypes in each patient's individual cancer.

The FDA has granted sacituzumab govitecan (IMMU-132) breakthrough therapy designation for the treatment of patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) following at least 2 treatments for metastatic disease, according to Immunomedics, the manufacturer of the investigational antibody-drug conjugate.

Carey Anders, MD, assistant professor for the Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, UNC Chapel Hill, discusses the exclusion of patients with breast cancer who have developed brain metastases from clinical trials.

Single-dose fosaprepitant dimeglumine (Emend for injection) in combination with antiemetic agents has been approved by the FDA for the preventing

Approximately 33% of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer have also been found to have a luminal subtype resistant to chemotherapy and trastuzumab. Peter Beitsch, MD, discusses the triplet neoadjuvant regimen of pertuzumab, trastuzumab, and chemotherapy, and its effect on the subtype in the Neoadjuvant Breast Registry Symphony Trial (NBRST) study.

A team of researchers at both the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Johns Hopkins Medical Institute have discovered that cancer metastization occurs through the migration of malignant cells in groups, rather than single cells, in a recent study.

Patrick Borgen, MD, speaks out on the recently approved USPSTF breast cancer screening guidelines.

​Charles M. Perou, PhD, professor of Genetics, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, UNC School of Medicine, discusses precision medicine in breast cancer and currently known biomarkers.

Geoffrey Shapiro, MD, PhD, director, Early Drug Development Center, Dana Farber, discusses the role of cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK4) in some breast cancer subtypes and the lack of targeted agents in triple-negative breast cancer.

A comparison preclinical study pitting a sugary diet with one less sweet shows the former resulting in increased breast cancer tumor growth and metastasis.

A new 26-gene-screening panel, dubbed myBRCA HiRisk, hitting the market in the first quarter of 2016 aims to advance the prevention of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer.

Despite the initial controversy caused over 6 years ago, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has released a final version of its guidelines that stick to its initial assessment.

Saeed Rafii, MD, PhD, MRCP, discusses the phase Ib JAVELIN solid tumor trial. The trial looks at the anti-PD-L1 antibody avelumab in patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer.

​Benjamin Smith, MD, discusses a recent study looking at local treatments in breast cancer and the complication burdens associated with them. Smith says that any complications arising in patients with breast cancer within 2 years are strongly associated with their treatments.

Shak says the study examined the prospective outcomes of 1626 women and showed that at 5 years, less than 1% of women had a distant recurrence.

Twelves said historically, chemotherapy combinations have been created utilizing empirical evidence, which he says is not a sound rationale for the combinations. He adds that due to certain biological properties of eribulin mesylate, the treatment warrants further investigation as a combination therapy.