Breast Cancer

Study suggests potentially expanding the use of immunotherapies in the elderly, a population in whom these therapies may be under-prescribed.

This drug class works by interfering with the ability of cancer cells to repair themselves after experiencing damage to their DNA, but how PARP inhibitors selectively kill cancer cells was previously unknown.

Atezolizumab was granted accelerated approval for the mTNBC indication in March 2019, making it the first immunotherapy agent to be approved in this setting.

This research lays the foundation for future clinical trials aimed at investigating whether moderate to vigorous exercise can minimize “chemo brain,” which is a decline in cognitive function many patients with breast cancer experience.

As health care costs rise and cost-sharing increases, treatment-associated expenses will continue to burden patients.

These findings could lead to improved therapies and prolonged survival for patients with metastatic TNBC, according to the study authors.

Investigators estimated that globally, 4.1% of all new cancer diagnoses in 2020 were attributable to alcohol consumption.

A decrease in cancer-associated macrophage-like cells was associated with an approximately 300% increase in mean progression-free survival.

Pembrolizumab demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in OS for patients whose tumors expressed PD-L1 with a combined positive score ≥10 compared to chemotherapy alone, according to the study.

The combination of pembrolizumab and chemotherapy marks the first immunotherapy regimen approved for patients with high-risk early-stage triple-negative breast cancer.

The FDA has granted Fast Track Designation to trilaciclib (Cosela) for use in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).

Margetuximab-cmkb (Margenza) was approved in December 2020 in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer who have previously received 2 or more anti-HER2 regimens, at least one of which for metastatic disease.

Factors that may have contributed to the screening declines include site closures and temporary pausing of services.

The current study analyzed human tumor samples from 6 cancer types: liver, melanoma, colorectal, non-small lung, head and neck, and breast cancer.

Sacituzumab govitecan is approved for the treatment of patients with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer who have received 2 more prior systemic therapies.

The clinical benefit rate was observed in 16.7% of patients in the balixafortide arm and in 19.6% of patients in the eribulin monotherapy arm.

Treatments to stimulate the release of eggs increase estrogen hormone production and can act on breast cells, which has created concern that this could turn the cells cancerous.

Prior to this research, it was known that genetically removing the POLQ protein killed cells with BRCA gene defects, but no drug had been identified that prevented POLQ from functioning.

Oncologist Susan Miesfeldt, MD, of MaineHealth, discussed the importance of genetic testing and counseling for breast and ovarian cancers as well as barriers that must be addressed in order to reach more patients eligible for these services.

Research has also shown activity with sacituzumab govitecan in subsets of patients with triple-negative breast cancer, such as those with active brain metastases.

Study suggests that 8 out of 10 patients with breast cancer who receive treatment with TARGIT-IORT will not need a long course of post-operative external beam radiotherapy.

Rates of death among patients with breast cancer due to any cause were 31% higher in states with Medicaid income eligibility limits no greater than 50% of the federal poverty level.

This discovery could enhance efforts to develop better treatments for breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer.

The study authors sought to examine the risks of subsequent primary cancers (SPCs) among breast cancer survivors by HR status and age at diagnosis.

The findings contrast with those for adult BMI, which indicate that women who gain weight after menopause have an increased risk of postmenopausal breast cancer.