Breast Cancer

Pertuzumab plus trastuzumab, and nab-paclitaxel used as neoadjuvant therapy in patients with HER2-positive locally advanced breast cancer induced a pathologic complete response similar to that achieved with docetaxel, carboplatin, trastuzumab, and pertuzumab, with less treatment-related toxicities.

A de-escalated course of neoadjuvant therapy of trastuzumab and pertuzumab with or without added weekly paclitaxel for only 12 weeks yielded high response rates and significant survival in patients with HER2-positive, hormone receptor–negative early breast cancer.

The addition of durvalumab to neoadjuvant anthracycline and taxane–based chemotherapy was found to significantly improve survival in patients with early triple-negative breast cancer.

Ribociclib plus fulvestrant continued to significantly improve overall survival over fulvestrant alone in postmenopausal patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer at almost 5 years of follow-up, irrespective of whether patients received the regimen in the first- or second-line setting.

The combination of venetoclax and fulvestrant failed to improve overall outcomes vs fulvestrant alone in patients with locally advanced or metastatic estrogen receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer who had previously received a CDK4/6 inhibitor.

At a median follow-up of 73.3 months, investigators in the PALOMA-3 trial have concluded that palbociclib plus fulvestrant maintains a clinically meaningful improvement in overall survival compared with placebo plus fulvestrant for patients with HR-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer.

Dennis J. Slamon, MD, PhD, discusses the long-term benefit of ribociclib plus fulvestrant in patients with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer.

Tucatinib plus trastuzumab and capecitabine maintained and even improved overall survival over placebo in pretreated patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.

Evidence of tucatinib and its predominant metabolite, ONT-993, were detectable in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with leptomeningeal metastasis HER2+ positive breast cancer marking a first for tucatinib distribution into the CSF seen in this patient population.

Olaparib demonstrated clinically meaningful benefit 1 year after standard of care therapies, such as surgery, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, or radiation therapy, in patients with BRCA1/2-mutant, early HER2-negative breast cancer who are at a high risk for recurrence.

Elyse Lower, MD, discusses the importance of tucatinib in the treatment of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.

Anita Johnson, MD, FACS, discusses existing disparities in cancer, studies that have helped to shed further light on the issue, and ongoing efforts being made to improve outcomes in all patients.

The FDA has granted a priority review to the new drug application seeking approval of plinabulin plus granulocyte colony-stimulating factor for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia.

Diana Sutherland, NP, discusses the promise of CDK4 inhibitors in patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Dr Jhaveri and colleagues highlight key clinical trials in the setting of advanced HER2-positive breast cancer and discuss the practical considerations of these data.

Dr Jhaveri and colleagues take an in-depth look at data from select clinical trials in the neoadjuvant and adjuvant settings for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.

In the first segment, Dr Jhaveri and colleagues discuss the unmet needs clinicians face in the treatment of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.

Dr Kaklamani and colleagues highlight key clinical trials such as DESTINY-Breast01, HER2CLIMB, NALA, and SOPHIA in the setting of advanced HER2-positive breast cancer and discuss the practical considerations of these data.

Dr Kaklamani and colleagues take an in-depth look at data from select clinical trials in the neoadjuvant and adjuvant settings for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.

In the first segment, Dr Kaklamani and colleagues discuss the remaining unmet needs clinicians face despite recent advances in the treatment of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.

Eribulin mesylate induced favorable responses and improved survival when used as a third or later line of treatment in patients with metastatic breast cancer, including those with triple-negative breast cancer.

Eric M. Horwitz, MD, FABS, FASTRO, and Stephanie E. Weiss, MD, FASTRO, highlight ongoing research efforts with radiation therapy that are generating excitement at their institution.

Stephanie E. Weiss, MD, FASTRO and Eric M. Horwitz, MD, FABS, FASTRO, discuss ways to leverage radiation in the treatment of central nervous system metastases, areas of active investigation, and different available strategies that are improving outcomes for patients with cancer.

Stereotactic body radiotherapy can safely be used to treat patients with oligometastatic disease with 3 to 4 metastases or 2 metastases in close proximity to each other, according to results from the phase 1 NRG-BR001 trial.

Bhuvaneswari Ramaswamy, MD, discusses the potential utility of CDK4/6 inhibitors in the adjuvant setting for patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer.