BREAST CANCER

Andrew D. Seidman, MD, comments on the findings of the phase III S0221 trial, which compared two schedules of paclitaxel as adjuvant therapy for breast cancer.

Mark D. Pegram, MD, describes research into the antibody-drug conjugate T-DM1 (trastuzumab emtansine), following its FDA approval in February as a treatment for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.

Ado-trastuzumab emtansine received FDA approval in February, and a number of ongoing trials now seek to determine whether the antibody-drug conjugate can be combined with other agents.

George W. Sledge, Jr, MD, Chief, Division of Oncology, Professor of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, discusses the mechanisms of resistance in breast cancer.

The American Association for Cancer Research is an annual showcase of the latest scientific cancer research, with updates on phase I, often first-in-human clinical trials.

Lisa A. Carey, MD, Professor of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, discusses assays and intrinsic subtypes of breast cancer.

Fabrice Andre, MD, PhD, says that there are no targets in triple-negative breast cancer in accordance with the current vision of the disease.

Debu Tripathy, MD, Co-Leader, Women's Cancer Program, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California, describes intratumoral heterogeneity in patients with breast cancer.

Martine Piccart, MD, PhD, director of medicine at the Jules Bordet Institute in Brussels, Belgium, discusses the changing view of anti-HER2 therapies for patients with breast cancer.

Debu Tripathy, MD, Co-Leader, Women's Cancer Program, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California, discusses two important trials in breast cancer looking at extended hormonal therapy.

José Baselga, MD, PhD, Physician-in-Chief, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, discusses targeting the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) in breast cancer.

Lisa A. Carey, MD, Professor of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, discusses the challenges of triple-negative breast cancer.

Fabrice Andre, MD, PhD, Research Director, Head of INSERM Unit U981, Institut National des Sciences et de la Recherche Médicale, Villejuif, France, discusses the need for new testing methods.

Martine Piccart, MD, PhD, director of medicine at the Jules Bordet Institute in Brussels, Belgium, discusses genomic testing in breast cancer.

The 30th Annual Miami Breast Cancer Conference (MBCC) at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach Hotel, in Miami Florida, from March 7-10, 2013.

Approximately 20% of human breast cancers are characterized by overexpression of the HER2 receptor tyrosine kinase molecule. Multiple anitbodies have been designed to specifically target HER2, and each is able to target the molecule at a different epitope.

George W. Sledge, Jr, MD, Chief, Division of Oncology, Professor of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, discusses drug toxicity among targeted agents.

So far, there are no conclusive biomarkers to help identify subsets of patients who would benefit from antiangiogenic therapies, creating a barrier to the use of such treatments, Rugo said in her MBCC abstract.

Patients with ER-positive breast cancer, which accounts for approximately 70% of all cases, have benefited from the use of hormonal therapies to treat their disease.

Although targeted antibodies in cancer have been promising, most have only marginal activity in their targeted cancer and must be paired with a chemotherapeutic agent to maximize efficacy.

Gene expression profiling via the Oncotype DX 21-gene recurrence score assay has been used to assess risk and predict recurrence in hundreds of thousands of women over the course of nearly a decade.

The development of new drug combinations to treat patients with ER-negative breast cancer is being advanced by a growing understanding of the protein kinase activity along the EGFR pathway.

Emanuel F. Petricoin III, PhD, Co-Director, Center for Applied Proteomics & Molecular Medicine, Professor of Life Sciences, George Mason University, discusses the use of the reverse phase protein microarray (RPPA).

Fabrice André, MD, PhD, has focused his research on translational oncology and the development of novel targeted agents for the treatment of breast cancer through his research as director of INSERM Unit U981 at the Institut Gustave-Roussy in Villejuif, France.

Patrick Borgen, MD, chair, Department of Surgery, director, Maimonides Breast Cancer Center, discusses the Miami Breast Cancer Conference.