BREAST CANCER

New findings from a study suggest it is unlikely that any single gene can predict response to targeted therapy for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer. Instead, gene networks— specifically those involving PI3 kinase —may provide a clearer picture of patient outcomes.

Though some clinicians may characterize the treatment landscape of HER2-positive breast cancer as overcrowded, Mark Pegram, MD, firmly believes that there is still much to learn in this space.

The FDA has granted priority review designation to a new drug application for ribociclib for use in combination with letrozole as a frontline therapy for patients with HR–positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer.

Among patients with HER2-negative stage IIIb/IV breast cancer who have progressed after a taxane or anthracycline therapy, a multicenter single-arm study of third-line eribulin demonstrated both safety and efficacy.

In the “real world” NABUCCO trial, results with nab-paclitaxel were consistent with those reported in the pivotal trial among patients with metastatic breast cancer who are ineligible to receive anthracycline therapy.

Toxicities associated with capecitabine may be better managed by dose reductions and/or a week-on/week-off (WOWO) dosing schedule among patients aged 70 years or older with metastatic breast cancer.

The addition of palbociclib (Ibrance) to endocrine therapy led to a consistent improvement in progression-free survival (PFS), according to a biomarker analysis of a recently reported randomized trial.¹

Antonio Llombart-Cussac, MD, PhD, medical oncologist, chairman, Medical Oncology Service, University Hospital Arnau de Vilanova in Valencia, Spain, discusses his vision for breast cancer treatment in the next 5 to 10 years.

In an interview with<em> Targeted Oncology</em>, Kimberly L. Blackwell, MD, discusses the latest therapeutic developments for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer while providing insight on the hurdles that still remain.

Nationally recognized oncologist Nancy E. Davidson, MD, has accepted the position of Executive Director of Clinical Oncology at the Fred Hutch/University of Washington (UW) Cancer Consortium in Seattle, Washington. Davidson was previously Director of the the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI).

According to phase I data presented at the 2016 ESMO Congress, a&nbsp;novel HER2-targeting antibody-drug conjugate showed promising antitumor activity across multiple tumor types, including HER2-postive breast cancer.

Meena Savur Moran, MD, radiation oncologist, professor, Therapeutic Radiology, director, Breast Cancer Radiotherapy Program, Yale Cancer Center, discusses considerations oncologists take when treating patients with breast cancer of different ethnic backgrounds.

Confirming the results of an earlier phase II study, findings from the FALCON trial showed first-line treatment with fulvestrant led to significantly better progression-free survival compared with anastrozole for patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive advanced breast cancer.

Chau Dang, MD, medical oncologist, chief, West Harrison Medical Oncology Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the future of HER2+ breast cancer treatment.

A move by CVS Health to place in-house physician dispensaries out-of-network for purposes of Medicare Part D drug payment would force hundreds of thousands of cancer patients across the country to find alternate sources for their oral oncolytic drugs, the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) argued in a new white paper.

In a recent study, abemaciclib demonstrated clinical activity both alone and in combinations in women with HR+ metastatic breast cancer.

Erin Wysong Hofstatter, MD, associate professor at Yale Cancer Center and co-director of the Cancer Genetics and Prevention Program, discusses the actionable mutations that impact treatment and surgical decisions in breast cancer.

ASCO-CAP recently released new guidelines for the use of FISH testing for HER2 in breast cancer, due to discrepancies in HER2-testing results.

Results from the KRISTINE^&nbsp;and NSABP B-41&nbsp;trials provided the latest data on the use of pertuzumab, trastuzumab, ado-trastuzumab emtansine, and lapatinib for the neoadjuvant treatment of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.

William J. Gradishar, MD, summarizes the need for new strategies to alter the landscape of HR-positive breast cancer for the better, and how these methods can overcome drug resistance and delay disease progression.

A strategy to stimulate an immune response in radiation-damaged tumor cells resulted in preliminary evidence of activity&mdash;including longer survival&mdash;in a small clinical trial of patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Antonio Llombart-Cussac, MD, PhD, medical oncologist, chairman, Medical Oncology Service, University Hospital Arnau de Vilanova in Valencia, Spain, discusses the MERIBEL study during an interview at the 2016 ESMO Congress.

Melanie Royce, MD, details recent studies into&nbsp;hormone receptor-positive (HR+) and HER2-advanced breast cancer treatment.

Sara Hurvitz, MD, discusses the results from a preplanned interim analysis in HR+, HER2-negative breast cancer.

Findings of a recent multicenter randomized trial^&nbsp;showed postmenopausal women with hormone receptor (HR)-positive metastatic breast cancer (MBC) had significant slowing of disease progression with the addition of the investigational cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitor ribociclib to endocrine therapy.

Gabriel Hortobagyi, MD, professor of Medicine, University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the major findings of the MONALEESA-2 study in advanced breast cancer, during an interview at the 2016 ESMO Congress.

Lynette M. Sholl, MD, discusses advancements in molecular diagnostics that have led to the development of numerous single-gene&nbsp;assays for the detection of genetic mutations that can be targeted in the treatment of cancers.

Lajos Pusztai, MD, professor of medicine, chief of Breast Medical Oncology, Yale Cancer Center, and Co-Director, Yale Cancer Center Genetics, Genomics and Epigenetics Program, discusses the potential role of immunotherapy in the management of breast cancer.

Hope Rugo, MD, clinical professor, department of medicine, and director of Breast Oncology Clinical Trials Program, at University of California, San Francisco, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the role of immunotherapy in breast cancer.