BREAST CANCER

The oral androgen receptor inhibitor, enzalutamide, blocks several steps in the androgen receptor signaling pathway and prevents the entry of androgen receptor into the cell nucleus.

Patients with a history of breast cancer have a higher risk of developing thyroid cancer than do the general population, particularly if they receive adjuvant radiation therapy.

Clifford A. Hudis, MD, chief, Breast Medicine Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses dose-dense chemotherapy for the treatment of patients with breast cancer.

Moving early to diagnose and treat lymphedema after breast cancer treatment can reverse this side effect or prevent it from becoming severe.

Prudence Francis, MD, discusses the SOFT trial, which examined suppression of ovarian function, and the impact it could have on the future treatment of women under 35 with HR+ breast cancer.

Representatives Diana DeGette (D, Colorado) and Fred Upton (R, Michigan) recently released a "discussion draft" of the 21st Century Cures Act.

Acting two months ahead of its deadline, the FDA granted an accelerated approval to palbociclib (Ibrance) as a first-line treatment for patients with ER-positive metastatic breast cancer.

Metastatic disease accounts for the vast majority of cancer-related deaths. Ensuring a definitive diagnosis and the most effective treatment in a timely fashion is essential for extending life expectancy.

Joan Lunden discusses the diagnostic approach that led to the early detection of triple-negative breast cancer, which was undetected by mammogram and 3D mammogram but was detected with ultrasound.

In an analysis of more than 17,000 patients with breast cancer, who are at risk for a genetic mutation, subjects were as likely to have a mutation in a gene other than BRCA1 and BRCA2 as they were to have these common mutations.

Christopher Twelves, MD, Professor of Clinical Cancer Pharmacology and Oncology, University of Leeds, discusses a pooled analysis of eribulin for the treatment of patients with breast cancer.

Researchers will dissect topline results from the MARIANNE trial in an effort to understand why T-DM1 failed to triumph as a first-line treatment in the metastatic setting for patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer despite the promise of earlier findings.

Two HER2-targeting regimens anchored by T-DM1 failed to outperform the standard strategy in women with previously untreated advanced HER2-positive breast cancer, dealing a blow to efforts to move the drug into frontline settings.

More breast cancer lesions were diagnosed in women with dense breasts when ultrasound screening was conducted in conjunction with mammography compared with mammography alone.

An international team of investigators is evaluating the novel topoisomerase-1 inhibitor etirinotecan pegol in patients with metastatic breast cancer, and at the same time evaluating target-specific biomarkers in CTCs.

A potential pathogenic role for the androgen receptor (AR) exists for some breast cancer (BC) subtypes according to 2 new studies presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) 2014.

An ongoing clinical trial will determine whether the addition of weekly nab-paclitaxel to gemcitabine or carboplatin improves PFS versus the gemcitabine-carboplatin doublet as first-line therapy for patients with metastatic TNBC.

Beth Overmoyer, MD, director, Inflammatory Breast Cancer Program, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses obesity as a risk factor for inflammatory breast cancer.

William J. Gradishar, MD, discusses advances in the last year in the treatment of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.

Edith A. Perez, MD, the deputy director at large for the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, comments on immune checkpoint inhibition for the treatment of breast cancer.

Women undergoing therapy for breast cancer are at increased risk for loss of bone mineral density (BMD) and fractures because of the use of adjuvant estrogen-lowering therapies (ie, aromatase inhibitors).

Most women are aware that bone density frequently decreases with age and natural menopause, but many women do not know that breast cancer treatments can reduce bone density and increase the risk of fracture.

Bone-targeted agents may help to minimize complications associated with osseous metastases, such as skeletal-related events, but ongoing compliance and adherence to these therapies are important to ensure they provide the desired benefit.

Denise A. Yardley, MD, senior investigator, Sarah Cannon Research Institute, on the treatment of patients with breast cancer with bone health issues.

Virginia G. Kaklamani, MD, professor of medicine, University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio, discusses bone health in women with breast cancer.

A 12-gene test for breast cancer recurrence after ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) distinguished high- and intermediate- risk patients from those with a low risk. These results were presented at the 2014 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Findings from a long-term analysis of the Women’s Intervention Nutrition Study (WINS) show that the deaths of women with hormone receptor–negative breast cancers were reduced by up to 54% when they followed a program to reduce their dietary fat intake.

Frontline treatment with everolimus (Afinitor) combined with trastuzumab (Herceptin) and paclitaxel failed to delay disease progression versus trastuzumab and paclitaxel alone in patients with HER2-positive advanced breast cancer.

Fulvestrant (Faslodex) improved overall survival (OS) by 5.7 months compared with anastrozole as a frontline treatment for postmenopausal women with HR-positive metastatic breast cancer. These findings from the phase II FIRST trial were presented at the 2014 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

John F. R. Robertson, MD, discusses overall survival data from the phase II FIRST study, which looked at fulvestrant as first-line therapy for patients with advanced breast cancer.