Breast Cancer

The antidepressant venlafaxine is often prescribed to patients with breast cancer who are taking tamoxifen, to help reduce the side effect of hot flashes. But according to research presented at the 2012 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, venlafaxine may reduce the effectiveness of the drug. Read More ›

Young women with triple-negative and luminal-type breast cancer were more likely to respond to neoadjuvant chemotherapy than were older women with these cancers, and improved outcomes were observed for young women with luminal-A–like tumors who achieved a pathologic complete response (pCR) versus those who did not. Read More ›

For preventing bone metastases in women with early breast cancer, the current body of evidence does not support the use of osteoclast-targeting agents, ie, bisphosphonates, according to Julie Gralow, MD, director of Breast Medical Oncology at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington. Read More ›

Updated results from the pivotal phase 3 BOLERO-2 trial uphold, and even add to, the previous benefits reported for the addition of everolimus to exemestane in advanced breast cancer, including a positive effect on bone markers.^1,2 Read More ›

In women with metastatic breast cancer, less frequent dosing of zoledronic acid (ZA) may be as protective as the standard monthly infusion, according to 2 studies presented at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Read More ›

Adverse events (AEs) related to chemotherapy for metastatic breast cancer (MBC) create a substantial economic burden that is primarily explained by increased inpatient, outpatient, and pharmacy costs, said Sara A. Hurvitz, MD, of the University of California Los Angeles, who presented an economic analysis at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Read More ›

According to an analysis of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group trial ECOG-E1199 by Schneider and colleagues, the development of grade 2 to 4 peripheral neuropathy in patients with operable breast cancer who received taxanes does not appear to affect clinical outcome.¹ Read More ›

The biggest newsmaker at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) was a compound whose name and actions sound practically missilelike: T-DM1. Because of its highly targeted and potent effect that spares surrounding healthy tissue, T-DM1 not only has potent antitumor effects but is also very well tolerated.

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Updated results of the phase 3 BOLERO-2 trial demonstrated that adding everolimus to hormonal therapy extends progression-free survival (PFS) in hormone receptor–positive (HR+) metastatic breast cancer that progressed on hormonal therapy with anastrozole or letrozole. The positive outcomes observed in this study suggest that everolimus plus exemestane will be a new option for postmenopausal metastatic HR+ breast cancer.

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