Breast Cancer

Latest News


CME Content


A wave of novel treatments and FDA approvals has recently swept through the HER2-positive breast cancer space. Kimberly L. Blackwell, MD, oncologist at Duke Cancer Institute, discusses these recent advancements.

Patient navigation is playing an increasingly vital role in guiding patients with breast cancer through the maze of the American healthcare system. The Patient Navigation Initiative is a pioneering project of Susan G. Komen of Greater New York City focused on helping women overcome barriers to care, which leads to improved outcomes.

In just over 5 years, the growth and development in the field of breast cancer have been astronomical. Julie Nangia, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, discusses the recent explosion of knowledge about non-BRCA genes, and the significant progress in therapies targeted to BRCA mutation carriers.

Cryotherapy delivered through frozen gloves and socks during paclitaxel (Taxol) infusion dramatically reduced objective and subjective symptoms of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) in a small study of patients with breast cancer.

Based on results from the phase III OlympiAD trial, the FDA approved olaparib (Lynparza), a PARP inhibitor, for the treatment of patients with germline BRCA-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer who have previously received chemotherapy. HR-positive patients must also have had prior endocrine therapy.

Some younger women with breast cancer may soon have a new first-line treatment option. Ribociclib (Kisqali), has been granted a breakthrough therapy designation by the FDA for use in combination with tamoxifen or an aromatase inhibitor (AI) as frontline treatment for pre- or perimenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer.