The 37th Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium
The annual meeting of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium was held from Dec. 9 to 13 in San Antonio and attracted more than 7,500 participants from around the world, including medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, researchers, and other health care professionals. The conference highlighted recent advances in the risk, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of breast cancer. Presentations focused on emerging treatments in hard-to-treat patient populations, including patients with metastatic breast cancer.
In one study, Edith Perez, M.D., of the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., and colleagues found that women with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer with high levels of tumor-infiltrating immune cells had a reduced risk of cancer recurrence after treatment with chemotherapy compared with women with low levels of these cells. The investigators also found that the level of tumor-infiltrating immune cells had no impact on the benefit of adding trastuzumab to chemotherapy.
"These are provocative data, worthy of prompt validation work before we can recommend for practice. The study supports evaluation of components of the immune system to predict patient outcome to anti-cancer therapy," Perez said.
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In another study, William M. Sikov, M.D., of the Women and Infants Hospital in Providence, R.I., and colleagues found that the addition of either carboplatin or bevacizumab significantly increased the pathologic complete response (pCR) rate in patients with basal-like subtypes of triple negative breast cancer, compared to a standard chemotherapy regimen alone.
"Of interest, though, for carboplatin, the increase in the pCR rate in the non-basal-likes was identical to the increase in the basal-likes; therefore, identifying the basal-like cancers does not help us pick out which patients are more (or less) likely to benefit from the addition of carboplatin," Sikov said. "On the other hand, in the non-basal-like cancers, the addition of bevacizumab actually reduced the pCR rate, so determining whether a patient's cancer is basal-like or non-basal-like could be useful if a doctor were deciding whether to add bevacizumab."
The study was funded in part by Roche-Genentech, the manufacturer of bevacizumab.
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Eileen Rakovitch, M.D., of the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, and colleagues found that the Oncotype DX DCIS Score was an effective predictor of cancer recurrence in women treated with breast conserving surgery alone for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).
"We found that the DCIS Score was a good predictor of whether a patient with DCIS who was treated with breast-conserving surgery alone would experience recurrence of DCIS or invasive breast cancer in the same breast," Rakovitch said in a statement. "These data confirm the results of a study reported last year but in a more diverse population."
The study was funded in part by Genomic Health, which markets the Oncotype test.
SABCS: Genetic Test May Help Predict DCIS Recurrence
FRIDAY, Dec. 12, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- For women who have ductal carcinoma in situ surgically removed, a genetic test may help predict the odds of a recurrence, according to research presented at the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held from Dec. 9 to 13 in San Antonio.
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SABCS: Low-Fat Diet Ups Survival for Some Breast Cancer Patients
FRIDAY, Dec. 12, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Eating a low-fat diet may reduce the risk of premature death in some women with breast cancer, according to new research scheduled to be presented at the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held from Dec. 9 to 13 in San Antonio.
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SABCS: Combo Approaches Help Some Younger Breast CA Patients
THURSDAY, Dec. 11, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- While tamoxifen plus ovarian suppression does not provide a significant benefit over tamoxifen alone among premenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive early breast cancer, the addition of ovarian suppression does benefit some of these women, and exemestane plus ovarian suppression further improves disease outcomes, according to new research. The findings were published online Dec. 11 in the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held from Dec. 9 to 13 in San Antonio.
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SABCS: Novel Breast CA Drugs Show Promise in Early Trials
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 10, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Two preliminary studies into medications under development may offer some hope for women with advanced breast cancer. The findings are scheduled for presentation Wednesday at the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held from Dec. 9 to 13 in San Antonio.
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SABCS: Prognosis for Male Breast Cancer Lags Behind Women
TUESDAY, Dec. 9, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- While survival for men with breast cancer has improved, it hasn't kept pace with the strides made in treating breast cancer in women, according to new research due to be presented at the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held from Dec. 9 to 13 in San Antonio.
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