Breast Cancer

Combining anastrozole with palbociclib, trastuzumab, and pertuzumab as a frontline therapy for hormone receptor–positive, HER2-positive breast cancer may avoid some of the toxicities associated with chemotherapy, says Amy Tiersten, MD.

During a continuing medical education activity hosted by PER, Paolo Tarantino, MD, discussed HER2-low breast cancer and emerging treatment options to fight the disease.

It may be possible to use anastrozole plus palbociclib, trastuzumab, and pertuzumab in place of chemotherapy in the frontline setting for hormone receptor–positive, HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, says Amy Tiersten, MD.

A future phase 2 trial may compare anastrozole plus a CDK4/6 inhibitor and trastuzumab or pertuzumab with chemotherapy plus trastuzumab and pertuzumab in hormone receptor–positive, HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.

Oncoplastic surgery requires collaboration between different surgical teams, pathologists, and radiologists to ensure optimal cosmetic and survival outcomes for patients with breast cancer, says Roshani Patel, MD, FACS.

During or after cancer treatment, patients may experience sexual dysfunction leading to a decrease in their quality of life.

Lower risk of disease progression following treatment with atezolizumab and carboplatin for metastatic triple-negative breast cancer appears to be associated with increases in tumor infiltrating lymphocytes and tumor mutational burden.

Adding trastuzumab emtansine to tucatinib appears to significantly improve progression-free survival in patients with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer, says Sara Hurvitz, MD, FACP.

Investigators will assess the safety and preliminary clinical activity of MRBC-101 in patients with EphA5-expressing malignant solid tumors as part of a phase 1/1b trial.

Early screening for breast cancer may help match patients with appropriate systemic therapies depending on the extent of their tumors, according to Rakhshanda Rahman, MD, FRCS, FACS.

In this Cancer Network Around the Practice program, Susan Dent, MD discusses the case of a 66-year-old patient with grade 3 triple-positive breast cancer who presents with multiple liver and bone metastases after front-line treatment with trastuzumab and letrozole.

The Lurie Cancer Center Hispanic Breast Cancer Clinic taps into the efforts of Spanish-speaking physicians, social workers, and others to help treat Hispanic patients with breast cancer, says Claudia Tellez, MD.

It is important to look at different assays beyond immunohistochemistry to better gather information and potentially predict the activity of trastuzumab deruxtecan in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, says Paolo Tarantino, MD.

Combining ribociclib with nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor treatment also produces relapse-free survival and distant disease-free survival benefits in patients with HR-positive, HER2-negative early-stage breast cancer.

More funding is necessary for additional trials investigating the potential clinical benefit of an alpha-lactalbumin vaccine for patients with high-risk operable triple-negative breast cancer and those at high risk of developing the disease, says G. Thomas Budd, MD.

Treatment with atezolizumab among patients with HER2-positive breast cancer in the phase 3 APTneo Michelangelo trial produces no major tolerability issues, says Luca Gianni, MD.

Findings from a phase 2a study support further development of a regimen including zanidatamab, palbociclib, and fulvestrant in those with HER2-positive, hormone receptor–positive breast cancer.

Latin American patients appear more likely to be diagnosed with aggressive early-stage breast cancer based on factors including metabolics and genetics, according to findings from the FLEX study.

All dose-limiting toxicities with SIM0270 in a phase 1 trial appear to be manageable with dose reductions in those with estrogen receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer.

Investigators observe no new safety signals with trastuzumab emtansine as a treatment for HER2-positive breast cancer after 8 years of follow-up in the phase 3 KATHERINE study.

Administering immunotherapy following surgery in patients with early-stage triple-negative breast cancer does not appear to be as effective as beginning with neoadjuvant treatment, says Peter Schmid, MD, PhD.

Future research may focus on the relationship between neoadjuvant chemotherapy regimens, pathologic complete response, and whole transcriptome changes in patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative early-stage breast cancer.

Quality of life also appears to be maintained with elacestrant in estrogen receptor–positive or HER2-negative ESR1-mutated breast cancer in the phase 3 EMERALD trial.

Safety findings in the phase 1b DESTINY-Breast08 are comparable with prior reports of trastuzumab deruxtecan and endocrine therapy in HER2-low hormone receptor–positive metastatic breast cancer.