Clinical breast cancer
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Clinical breast cancer · Dec 2007
Bilateral prophylactic oophorectomy and bilateral prophylactic mastectomy in a prospective cohort of unaffected BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers.
Women with BRCA1 or BRCA2 (BRCA1/2) mutations can reduce cancer incidence and mortality by using bilateral prophylactic oophorectomy (BPO) or bilateral prophylactic mastectomy (BPM). The availability of these risk-reduction strategies is an important consideration in the decision to undergo genetic testing. ⋯ Bilateral prophylactic oophorectomy is more commonly used than BPM in unaffected BRCA1/2 mutation carriers. Parity, age, and family history can also influence BPO and BPM uptake. Consistent with current recommendations, BPO is used by the majority of parous women aged > 40 years.
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Clinical breast cancer · Dec 2007
ReviewEvolving nonendocrine therapeutic options for metastatic breast cancer: how adjuvant chemotherapy influences treatment.
Patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) represent a very heterogeneous population and several factors are important for therapeutic decision: patients' characteristics including age, comorbidities, performance status, tumor biological profile, site and extension of metastatic spread, previous adjuvant therapies, and disease-free interval. New cytotoxic agents, new endocrine agents, and targeted therapies are becoming the new mainstay of adjuvant treatment. The growing understanding of the biology of breast cancer cells has led to the identification of key molecular points that represent possible targets for target-specific agents. ⋯ Lapatinib, a new target agent that simultaneously inhibits both HER2 and epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinases has been shown to be active in trastuzumab-resistant MBC. Moreover, several new agents targeting HER2 are currently under clinical development. There are no data on rechallenge with trastuzumab in patients who had received this agent as adjuvant treatment and relapsed after a long treatment-free interval, and this issue is a new area of research.
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Clinical breast cancer · Oct 2007
Aromatase inhibitor-associated arthralgia and/ or bone pain: frequency and characterization in non-clinical trial patients.
The frequency of aromatase inhibitor (AI)-associated arthralgia and/or bone pain in clinical practice is not known. ⋯ Aromatase inhibitor-associated pain is more frequent in patients not in clinical trials than previously appreciated in clinical trials. Improved patient education is needed, and prompt therapeutic management of pain is required to ensure continued drug treatment and improved quality of life.
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Clinical breast cancer · Aug 2007
Feasibility and cardiac safety of pegylated liposomal doxorubicin plus trastuzumab in heavily pretreated patients with recurrent HER2-overexpressing metastatic breast cancer.
Few studies have evaluated concomitant pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD) plus trastuzumab as therapy for HER2-overexpressing metastatic breast cancer (MBC). This open-label, prospective, phase II trial assessed the safety and efficacy of this regimen, with cardiac tolerance as the principal focus. ⋯ Pegylated liposomal doxorubicin plus trastuzumab might be an option for heavily pretreated patients with recurrent HER2-overexpressing MBC.
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Clinical breast cancer · Jun 2007
ReviewCardiac toxicity of trastuzumab-related regimens in HER2-overexpressing breast cancer.
The pivotal trial by Slamon and colleagues of trastuzumab combined with chemotherapy in metastatic breast cancer showed a high incidence of congestive heart failure (CHF) among patients who had received trastuzumab and anthracycline-based therapy simultaneously. As a result, the development of nonanthracycline-based treatment options for patients with HER2-overexpressing breast cancer has garnered significant attention. This review discusses the cardiac toxic effects of trastuzumab and trastuzumab-related regimens and how their mechanisms of action and physiologic effects differ from cardiac toxicity typically associated with anthracycline use. ⋯ For metastatic breast cancer, severe CHF has been reported in 2% of patients and ejection fraction declines in 6%-18% of patients. However, interstudy comparisons of chemotherapy-induced cardiac dysfunction are difficult because of the use of different definitions of cardiac dysfunction and different parameters for assessing cardiac safety. Recent data on cardiac safety of taxane/trastuzumab-based combination regimens demonstrate that the docetaxel/carboplatin/trastuzumab triple combination can offer clinical efficacy with a low risk of cardiac dysfunction in patients with HER2-overexpressing early-stage breast cancer as well as in patients with metastatic breast cancer.