Breast Cancer

ABERDEEN, Scotland-Primary, or neoadjuvant, chemotherapy with docetaxel (Taxotere) substantially increases the response rate in breast cancer patients who have received initial treatment with a chemotherapy combination, results of a phase III Scottish study demonstrate.

NOTTINGHAM, England-A new long-acting nonagonist antiestrogen, fulvestrant (Faslodex), significantly reduced estrogen and proges-terone receptor (ER/PR) content in breast tumors prior to surgery, compared with tamoxifen (Nolvadex) and placebo, according to a multicenter study presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

BALTIMORE-Axillary lymph node status and hormone receptor status are significant prognostic factors in elderly breast cancer patients, warranting more careful consideration of lymph node dissection and adjuvant therapy, according to a review of 277 cases presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

HAMBURG, germany-Elevated levels of two related tumor-associated proteases correlated with an increased risk of recurrence after definitive surgical treatment for node-negative breast cancer, German investigators reported at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

BOSTON-The combination of weekly trastuzumab (Herceptin) and vinorelbine (Navelbine) gave promising results in a phase II study of metastatic breast cancer. After a median of 21 weekly courses of therapy, the combination has produced a 71% overall response rate (all partial responses) in 34 evaluable patients. The regimen has been well tolerated, and no patient has experienced symptomatic congestive heart failure.

LOS ANGELES-A study of 839 patients presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium has found that women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) run a very small risk of death from invasive recurrence regardless of type of surgery.

HOUSTON-A weekly regimen of paclitaxel (Taxol) and trastuzumab (Herceptin) produced evidence of enhanced antitumor activity in patients with metastatic breast cancer and HER-2 overexpression, according to preliminary results from an ongoing phase II trial.

BOSTON-Even in a highly selected group of patients with stage I breast cancer, there is a substantial and long-term risk of local recurrence following treatment with conservative surgery without radiotherapy or systemic therapy, May Lim, MD, reported at a general session of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

LOS ANGELES-Surgical margin width offers a reasonable prognostic surrogate for the more complicated multiparameter Van Nuys Prognostic Index to predict breast cancer recurrence after treatment for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), but the index still provides superior accuracy, Melvin J. Silverstein, MD, of the University of Southern California, said at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

HANNOVER, Germany-An intensive sequential adjuvant chemotherapy regimen has proven safe and tolerable in breast cancer patients with 10 or more positive lymph nodes. The regimen, consisting of epirubicin

EDMONTON, Canada-In what Jean-Marc Nabholtz, MD, calls “the first trials challenging tamoxifen as the primary drug of choice in postmenopausal women with advanced breast cancer,” anastrozole (Arimidex, a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor) proved as effective as tamoxifen (Nolvadex). Dr. Nabholtz, of the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, reported the results at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

GREENVILLE, NC-Patient age and surgeon experience appear to play the biggest role in failure of sentinel lymph node biopsy for detection of breast cancer, according to a large multicenter clinical trial presented at the San Antonio Symposium.

WARSAW, Poland-Results of a multicenter randomized European trial demonstrated the superiority of paclitaxel (Taxol) and doxorubicin (Adriamycin) (AT) over standard FAC chemotherapy as first-line treatment for metastatic breast cancer.

BARCELONA-Preliminary results of a trial of a new selective estrogen-receptor modulator (SERM), known as LY353381, show a 32% response rate in patients with previously untreated locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer, José Baselga, MD, of Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, Barcelona, Spain, said at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

SAN ANTONIO-“Younger, premenopausal estrogen-receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer patients should be aware that there is an alternative to adjuvant chemotherapy,” Michael Baum, MD, professor of surgery, University College, London, said at the San Antonio Symposium.

COLUMBUS, Ohio-A phase II study presented at the San Antonio symposium has shown that weekly gemcitabine (Gemzar) combined with monthly docetaxel (Taxotere) is an effective second-line therapy for metastatic breast cancer.

PROVIDENCE, RI-Weekly, high-dose neoadjuvant chemother-apy with paclitaxel (Taxol) resulted in an 87% clinical response rate in a small pilot study aimed at assessing the feasibility and tolerability of the regimen in patients with stage IIB-IIIB breast cancer.

ROCHESTER, Minn-Preliminary results from an ongoing Mayo Clinic study show that fluoxetine (Prozac) reduced the incidence of hot flashes in breast cancer survivors by more than 50%, Charles L. Loprinzi, MD, said at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

NEW YORK-In patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), the identification of positive sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) is unlikely to be clinically significant, David Brenin, MD, of Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, said at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

BETHESDA, Md-The National Cancer Institute has named a new lecture series for Eleanor Nealon, a long-time employee who died of recurrent breast cancer on Oct. 22.

SAN ANTONIO-Treatment with FEC (fluorouracil, epirubicine, cyclophosphamide) to a dose optimized for each patient produced an overall response rate of 82% in a group of 39 Swedish patients with metastatic breast cancer, Dr. H. Lindman and colleagues, of Uppsala University and the Karolinska Institute, reported at the 22nd Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

A substance extracted from licorice root, Licochalcone-A, has been shown to have antitumor activity in acute leukemia, breast, and prostate cancer cell lines by lowering the amount of bcl-2, a drug-resistant protein. Excess amounts of this

The first oral aromatase inactivator for the treatment of postmenopausal women with advanced breast cancer whose tumors have stopped responding to tamoxifen (Nolvadex) therapy is now available in the United States. Pharmacia & Upjohn

Outpatient bone marrow transplant (BMT) strategies, as reviewed by Dix and Geller, have evolved for various reasons—from social to medical. If high-dose approaches are to become a viable treatment for common cancers, such as breast cancer, the refinement of transplants to a “kinder and gentler” approach is essential.

SAN ANTONIO-Estrogen suppression using goserelin (Zoladex) increased the relapse-free interval in premenopausal women with early stage breast cancer, compared with no goserelin, according to an interim analysis of the ZIPP (Zoladex in Premenopausal Patients) trial. Michael Baum, MD, of the Cancer Research Campaign, London, presented the results at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

WASHINGTON-An Institute of Medicine (IOM) committee has launched an assessment of technologies for the early detection of breast cancer that will include an examination of the policies and economic factors that delay or prevent their adoption. The year-long effort is part of a 5-year project undertaken by the IOM, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences.

NEW YORK-Studies leading up to FDA approval last year of a new aromatase inactivator, exemestane tablets (Aromasin, Pharmacia & Upjohn), were reviewed at the Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium XVII.

CHICAGO-A new ultrasound technology that amasses as much as nine times more information than conventional ultrasound provides greater detail in characterizing breast lesions and also allows real-time tracking of the entire path of the breast biopsy needle, Jacques Souquet, PhD, senior vice president and chief technology officer at ATL Ultrasound (Bothell, Washington), said in an interview with ONI.

Patients with one of the most common and curable forms of breast cancer may be undergoing radiation therapy unnecessarily, according to a University of Southern California (USC) study published in the May 13, 1999, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. The study, headed by Melvin J. Silverstein, MD, medical director of the Harold E. and Henrietta C. Lee Breast Center at the USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, examined ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).

TOWSON, Md-Evidence is mounting that dose escalation with conventional cytotoxic drugs appears to have no significant advantage over standard chemotherapy in metastatic breast cancer, said Antonio C. Wolff, MD, assistant professor of oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.