In a meta-analysis reported in JAMA Oncology, Spring et al found that neoadjuvant endocrine therapy was associated with outcomes similar to those with chemotherapy in women with estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer. Similar Outcomes The analysis included 3,490 patients from 20...
Self-administered relaxing acupressure and stimulating acupressure were both associated with reduced persistent fatigue vs usual care in breast cancer survivors, according to a randomized clinical trial reported by Zick et al in JAMA Oncology. However, only relaxing acupressure had significant...
In a Dutch population-based study reported in The Lancet Oncology, van Maaren et al found that breast-conserving surgery plus radiotherapy was associated with improved 10-year survival vs mastectomy in women with early breast cancer. Study Details The study included data from 37,207 women from...
Low-dose oral cyclophosphamide plus methotrexate maintenance therapy yielded no disease-free survival benefit in women with hormone receptor–negative early breast cancer, according to the phase III International Breast Cancer Study Group (IBCSG) 22-00 trial. Some evidence of benefit was...
A mindfulness-based stress-reduction program for breast cancer survivors was associated with psychological and physical symptom benefits during and at 6 weeks after intervention, according to a randomized trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Lengacher et al. Study Details In the...
Greater levels of leisure-time physical activity were associated with a reduced risk for cardiovascular disease events in women with nonmetastatic breast cancer, according to a study reported by Jones et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Study Details The study involved 2,973 women (mean...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Wolmark et al, higher 21-gene recurrence score (RS) was strongly predictive of late disease recurrence among patients with high quantitative estrogen-receptor expression (ESR1) receiving tamoxifen for 5 years in two NRG Oncology/NSABP (National...
In an analysis of the Breast International Group (BIG) 1-98 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Chirgwin et al found that poorer adherence to endocrine therapy was associated with poorer disease-free survival in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive breast cancer ...
As reported by Hope S. Rugo, MD, of the University of California San Francisco Comprehensive Cancer Center, and colleagues in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline on endocrine therapy for hormone receptor–positive metastatic breast cancer. The...
An analysis of the phase III adjuvant ALTTO trial showed that early rash was associated with better clinical outcome with lapatinib (Tykerb) treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer, as reported by Sonnenblick et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. It had been previously found that...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Check et al identified disparities in supportive medication use and end-of-life care between black and white Medicare patients with stage IV breast cancer. Study Details The study involved SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End...
As reported by Ekholm et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, 25-year follow-up of a Swedish phase III trial suggests a survival benefit with 2 years of adjuvant tamoxifen vs no systemic treatment in premenopausal women with estrogen receptor–positive stage II primary breast cancer. Study ...
Adding the PI3K inhibitor pictilisib to fulvestrant (Faslodex) did not improve progression-free survival in women with estrogen receptor–positive, HER2-negative, aromatase inhibitor–resistant advanced breast cancer, according to the phase II FERGI trial reported in The Lancet Oncology...
A disparity in BRCA1/2 testing between white and black women was influenced by patient-reported physician recommendation, in a population-based study reported by McCarthy et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Study Details The study involved data from 3,016 women (69% white, 31% black) in...
The addition of bevacizumab (Avastin) to first-line endocrine therapy with letrozole improved progression-free survival but increased toxicity among postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive metastatic breast cancer, according to the results of the phase III CALGB 40503/Alliance...
As reported by Muro et al in The Lancet Oncology and Nanda et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, single-agent pembrolizumab (Keytruda) showed activity in programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1)–positive advanced gastric cancer and metastatic triple-negative breast cancer in the...
In the phase III NEfERT-T trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Awada et al found no progression-free survival benefit of neratinib/paclitaxel vs trastuzumab (Herceptin)/paclitaxel in previously untreated inoperable recurrent or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer. A potential benefit of...
In a Canadian retrospective population-based cohort study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Thavendiranathan et al found that trastuzumab (Herceptin)-based regimens were associated with an increased risk of treatment-related cardiac dysfunction among women with breast cancer, with an...
ASCO has adapted a Clinical Care Ontario (CCO) clinical practice guideline on the selection of optimal adjuvant chemotherapy for early breast cancer and adjuvant targeted therapy for HER2-positive breast cancer, as reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The adaptation was based on review by...
In an analysis of the phase III BOLERO trials reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, André et al found that the addition of everolimus (Afinitor) to trastuzumab (Herceptin) and chemotherapy was associated with a progression-free survival benefit in advanced HER2-positive breast cancer ...
Reeder-Hayes et al found that adjuvant trastuzumab (Herceptin) may be underused in older women with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer and reported their study results in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Adjuvant trastuzumab also was used less often in black women than in white women. Rates...
In a French single-arm phase II study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Bertucci et al found little evidence of benefit from the addition of bevacizumab (Avastin) to neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapies in women with nonmetastatic HER2-negative inflammatory breast cancer. Study Details In the study, ...
In an analysis of the SOFT and TEXT trials reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Regan et al found that the greatest benefit of adjuvant exemestane in reducing breast cancer recurrence was among women with the highest risk of recurrence on the basis of clinicopathologic characteristics....
The 21-gene recurrence score (RS) assay score was strongly associated with recommendation for adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with early-stage breast cancer, reported Jasem et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Black women and patients treated in community facilities were more likely to...
In an Italian trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lesi et al found that the addition of acupuncture to enhanced self-care improved hot flashes, climacteric symptoms, and quality-of-life measures in women with breast cancer. Study Details In the trial, 190 women were randomized to...
Ribi et al reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology that addition of ovarian function suppression to tamoxifen resulted in greater endocrine and sexual function symptoms among premenopausal patients with early breast cancer in the Suppression of Ovarian Function Trial (SOFT). The SOFT study...
Aalders et al found relatively low rates of locoregional recurrence among young (< 35 years) Dutch women undergoing surgery for unilateral invasive breast cancer between 2003 and 2008. Recurrence rates varied somewhat by biologic subtype, according to these findings reported in the Journal of...
Ultrasound was associated with improved incremental detection of breast cancer at screening compared with tomosynthesis in women with mammography-negative dense breasts, according to the interim findings of the Italian prospective ASTOUND study. Tagliafico et al reported these results in the...
In a study reported in JAMA Surgery, Isaacs et al found that use of primary breast-conserving surgery for early-stage breast cancer has declined somewhat in recent years in New York State, most steeply among younger women. In addition, 90-day reoperation rates have declined and are lower for...
Pathologic complete response to neoadjuvant therapy in HER2-positive breast cancer was associated with a significantly better outcome vs non–pathologic complete response, in a patient-level meta-analysis reported by Broglio et al in JAMA Oncology. Response vs No Response The study included...
As reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute by Berg et al, an analysis from the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) 6666 study indicates that use of ultrasound in primary screening for breast cancer resulted in increased detection of invasive cancers but more...
Treatment with adjuvant endocrine therapy and omission of chemotherapy on the basis of a 21-gene recurrence score ≤ 11 was associated with a high 3-year disease-free survival rate in women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, according to a trial reported in...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by N. Lynn Henry, MD, PhD, of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, and colleagues, ASCO has endorsed Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) guideline recommendations on the role of patient and disease factors in decisions on adjuvant systemic...
Rosenberg et al found that the proportion of women diagnosed with breast cancer at age ≤ 40 years who have undergone BRCA1 and BRCA2 testing has increased during recent years. These findings, which were reported in JAMA Oncology, were part of the ongoing prospective Helping Ourselves, Helping...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Näslund-Koch et al found an increased risk for cancers in addition to breast cancer in individuals heterozygous for the CHEK2*1100delC germline mutation associated with an increased breast cancer risk. CHEK2 is a cell-cycle checkpoint...
Use of epoetin alfa (Epogen, Procrit) vs best standard of care to treat anemia did not achieve noninferiority for investigator-assessed progression-free survival in patients receiving chemotherapy for metastatic breast cancer, reported Leyland-Jones et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology....
In a single-center retrospective study reported in JAMA Oncology, McDonald et al found that adding digital breast tomosynthesis to digital mammography reduced recall rates, increased cancer detection, and was associated with a numeric reduction in interval cancers. Study Details The analysis...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Harris et al, ASCO released a clinical practice guideline on the use of biomarkers in addition to estrogen receptor/progesterone receptor and HER2 status to guide decisions on adjuvant systemic therapy in women with early-stage invasive breast...
In the phase III GeparSepto-GBG 69 trial, reported in The Lancet Oncology by Untch et al, neoadjuvant nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane) improved pathologic complete response rate vs conventional solvent-based paclitaxel in women with early-stage breast cancer. Study Details In the open-label trial, 1,206 ...
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Rosenberg et al found that use of estrogen with progestin is associated with an increased risk of estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer in postmenopausal African American women. Study Details The study involved data on...
Chan et al found that 1 year of treatment with the HER1, 2, and 4 tyrosine kinase inhibitor neratinib improved invasive disease–free survival vs placebo after trastuzumab (Herceptin)-based adjuvant therapy in patients with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer, in the phase III ExteNET...
As reported by Lichtman et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, an ancillary study (Alliance A171201) of the CALGB 49907 trial showed no significant association of pretreatment creatinine clearance with grade ≥ 3 hematologic toxicity, dose modification, therapy completion, relapse-free...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Cristofanilli et al, the final results of the phase III PALOMA-3 trial show that the addition of the CDK4/CDK6 inhibitor palbociclib (Ibrance) to fulvestrant (Faslodex) improved progression-free survival in women with hormone receptor–positive,...
Patients in the observational Mind-Body Study receiving adjuvant endocrine therapy for primary breast cancer treatment reported a greater symptom burden than did patients not receiving endocrine therapy over 12 months, as reported by Ganz et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. No differences in ...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Desmedt et al identified genomic alterations in invasive lobular breast cancer, including several that may serve as targets for current treatment and for treatment research. Invasive lobular breast cancer cells are characterized by...
In the phase II Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium (TBCRC) 022 study, reported by Freedman et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the erbB1, HER2, erbB4 inhibitor neratinib showed some activity in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer brain metastases. Study Details In the...
In the phase III LUX-Breast 1 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Harbeck et al found no benefit of afatinib (Gilotrif)/vinorelbine vs trastuzumab (Herceptin)/vinorelbine after previous trastuzumab treatment in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. Broader inhibition of ErbB...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Burstein et al, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline update on ovarian suppression as part of the extant guideline on adjuvant endocrine therapy in hormone receptor–positive breast cancer. The update is based on an update panel...
The American Cancer Society (ACS) and ASCO have issued a Breast Cancer Survivorship Care guideline, published jointly in the Journal of Clinical Oncology and CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. The guideline recommendations were formulated by a multidisciplinary expert work group and are based on...
In an analysis of experience at MD Anderson Cancer Center reported in JAMA Oncology, Mougalian et al found that 10-year overall and relapse-free survival rates in patients with stage II or III breast cancer and axillary metastases receiving primary systemic chemotherapy were higher in those with vs ...