Breast Cancer

Early locoregional therapy with surgery and radiation does not improve overall survival (OS) in women with newly diagnosed stage IV breast cancer and an intact primary tumor compared with systemic therapy alone, according to the results of the randomized ECOG-ACRIN E2108 phase 3 clinical trial. The results were presented by lead investigator Seema A. Khan, MD, FACS, MPH, Co-Leader, Lynn Sage Comprehensive Breast Center, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL, at the plenary session of the ASCO 2020 virtual annual meeting. Read Article ›

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in combination with chemotherapy demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) compared with chemotherapy alone as a first-line treatment for patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) whose tumors express PD-L1. Read Article ›

In patients with HER2+ breast cancer, those who achieved a pathologic complete response following HER2-directed (trastuzumab and/or pertuzumab) neoadjuvant therapy had an increased event-free survival probability compared with patients with residual disease. Read Article ›

In the largest retrospective analysis of US patients with ER+/HER2+ nonmetastatic breast cancer, there was no overall survival benefit of treating patients with hormone therapy + trastuzumab compared with hormone therapy alone, and patients treated without chemotherapy had a significantly worse overall survival. Read Article ›

IL6ST levels can differentiate ER+/HER2+ patients with breast cancer who respond well to endocrine therapy alone versus those with a poor clinical response who have a higher risk of recurrence, suggesting that there is a potential role for IL6ST in selecting ER+/HER2+ patients who require and benefit from HER2-targeted therapies. Read Article ›

All-cause healthcare utilization and costs among patients with metastatic breast cancer were highest for pharmacy costs and for those with metastasis to the central nervous system. Read Article ›

The clinical trial design was presented of a phase 1b study to assess the efficacy and tolerability of nivolumab plus stereotactic radiosurgery for patients with breast cancer and brain metastases. Read Article ›

The study design is described of an ongoing phase 2 clinical study of tucatinib plus trastuzumab and capecitabine in patients with advanced HER2+ breast cancer and newly diagnosed leptomeningeal metastatic disease. Read Article ›

The combination of letrozole, everolimus, and trastuzumab is well tolerated with encouraging clinical activity in heavily pretreated patients with HER2-amplified or mutant advanced breast cancer. Read Article ›

The clinical trial design was presented of a single-center, phase 2 study of GDC-0084, a brain-penetrant inhibitor of class I PI3K and mTOR, to evaluate the efficacy of GDC-0084 plus trastuzumab for the treatment of central nervous system metastases in patients with HER2+ breast cancer. Read Article ›