BREAST CANCER

Characterized by the absence of cell surface receptors for estrogen, progesterone and epidermal growth factor, triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) presents a formidable treatment challenge.

The development of drug resistance in cancer cells presents a major obstacle to cancer treatments of all types, including small molecule inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies, and hormone therapy.

Sara Hurvitz, MD, medical oncologist, UCLA Medical Center, discusses future treatment options for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).

Recent data indicate a role for a pathway involved in controlling cell proliferation as a potential site for therapeutic intervention in breast cancer.

New research has identified a genetic variant that helps reduce the risk of breast cancer in some Latina patients by 40% to 80%.

Ruth M. O’Regan, MD, director, Translational Breast Cancer Research, professor, hematology and oncology, medical oncology, Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, discusses the mechanism of action of trastuzumab.

A “nano-cocoon” DNA drug delivery vehicle may offer several advantages over other nanotechnology-based delivery systems, according to new research.

The FDA has expanded the approval of Lymphoseek (technetium Tc 99m tilmanocept) injection to include sentinel lymph node (SLN) detection for breast cancer and melanoma as well as lymphatic mapping in solid tumors.

Julie R. Gralow, MD, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Care Center, University of Washington School of Medicine, discusses future research into bisphosphonates in breast cancer.

The FDA has assigned a priority review designation to palbociclib in combination with letrozole as a frontline treatment for postmenopausal patients with ER-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer.

Jacques Raphael, MD, clinical fellow, Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre, discusses a study looking at the impact of Angelina Jolie’s decision and announcement to undergo a preventive double mastectomy.

Sandra M. Swain, MD, Medical Director of the Washington Cancer Institute at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, discusses results and key takeaways from the final overall survival (OS) analysis of the CLEOPATRA study.

Dual HER2 blockade with pertuzumab and trastuzumab plus chemotherapy for the treatment of HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer improved median overall survival (OS) by almost 16 months over standard first-line therapy.

Mary-Claire King, PhD, the researcher who identified BRCA1's linkage to hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, was announced as the winner of the 2014 Lasker~Koshland Special Achievement Award in Medical Science.

Therapies targeted to tumor biology hold the promise of improved outcomes for patients with breast cancer.

The combination of letrozole with either the CDK4/6 inhibitor LEE011 or the PI3 kinase Inhibitor BYL719 demonstrated clinical activity for women with ER-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer.

The poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor veliparib exhibits antitumor activity and is safe and tolerable on a continuous dosing schedule when used for the treatment of patients with BRCA-positive and BRCA-wild type tumors.

HER2 blockade may enhance the duration of response to fulvestrant, according to researchers from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.

A novel HER2-derived peptide (GP2) vaccine designed to stimulate CD8+ cytotoxic T-lymphocytes reduced the rate of breast cancer recurrence and proved safe and well tolerated in an adjuvant setting.

Hadeel Assad, MD, hematology/oncology fellow, Providence Hospital and Medical Center, discusses an analysis of the impact of breast cancer diagnosis on sexual dysfunction.

Clifford A. Hudis, MD, discusses obesity and menopausal status as determinants of procarcinogenic breast inflammation.

Long-term follow-up of a phase III clinical trial shows strong trends toward a greater likelihood of resuming menses and becoming pregnant when a luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LH-RH) analog is administered with chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer.

Breast conserving therapy (BCT) improves overall survival compared with other local treatments in patients with stage I breast cancer, according to an examination of the National Cancer Database (NCDB).

Katharine Yao, MD, gives an overview of an analysis that looked at patient preferences prior to surgery.

Sunil Verma, MD, MSEd, FRCPC, discusses evolving standards of early stage HER2-positive breast cancer.

Deanna J. Attai, MD, assistant clinical professor, Department of Surgery, UCLA, discusses breast cancer survivor support and education on Twitter.

Eleftherios Mamounas, MD, MPH, discusses locoregional recurrence and tailoring radiotherapy following neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

The combination of multiple independent factors minimized the impact of baseline stage for predicting locoregional recurrence (LRR) following neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer.

Postsurgery complications are infrequent among breast cancer patients undergoing surgery with reconstruction; however, according to a large database study, the rates of certain complications, including reoperation, blood transfusion, and implant loss, are higher with bilateral mastectomy versus unilateral mastectomy.

The actress Angelina Jolie’s decision to undergo a preventive double mastectomy after learning she carried the BRCA1 gene mutation—associated with an increased risk of breast and/or ovarian cancer—apparently sparked an “Angelina effect” on public health.