Breast Cancer

Rebecca L. Aft, MD, PhD, discusses the identification of patients with breast cancer at high risk of recurrent disease development by detection of HER2-positive disseminated tumor cells in bone marrow of patients with HER2-negative tumors.

After years of varying decisions by lower courts regarding the patents held on a test for genetic mutations associated with breast cancer, the US Supreme Court has ruled that a segment of DNA in isolation is a natural product and not eligible for patent protection.

Although recent findings suggest some patients with HER2-negative breast cancer would benefit from therapies directed against overexpression of the protein, two leading oncologists do not see an immediate impact on clinical practice as further validation is needed.

Constance D. Lehman, MD, PhD, Vice Chair, Radiology Department, University of Washington School of Medicine, Medical Director, Imaging, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, discusses the use of breast MRI.

Emiel J. Rutgers, MD, surgical oncologist, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, discusses a study analyzing radiotherapy or surgery of the axilla after a positive sentinel node in breast cancer patients.

Richard Finn, MD, from the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, describes the potential impact of the cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitor palbociclib (PD-0332991) in the treatment of patients with ER-positive metastatic breast cancer.

Women with early sentinel lymph node-positive breast cancer achieve as much of a disease-free and survival benefit from axillary radiotherapy as they do from axillary lymph node dissection with significantly less risk of lymphedema.