Survival after neoadjuvant chemotherapy with or without bevacizumab or everolimus for HER2-negative primary breast cancer (GBG 44-GeparQuinto)†.

Background: The GeparQuinto study showed that adding bevacizumab to 24 weeks of anthracycline-taxane-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy increases pathological complete response (pCR) rates overall and specifically in patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). No difference in pCR rate was observed for adding everolimus to paclitaxel in nonearly responding patients. Here, we present disease-free (DFS) and overall survival (OS) analyses.

Neoadjuvant letrozole in postmenopausal estrogen and/or progesterone receptor positive breast cancer: a phase IIb/III trial to investigate optimal duration of preoperative endocrine therapy.

Background: In recent years, preoperative volume reduction of locally advanced breast cancers, resulting in higher rates of breast-conserving surgery (BCS), has become increasingly important also in postmenopausal women. Clinical interest has come to center on the third-generation nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitors (AIs), including letrozole, for such neoadjuvant endocrine treatment. This usually lasts 3-4 months and has been extended to up to 12 months, but optimal treatment duration has not been fully established.

Immunomagnetic enrichment of disseminated tumor cells in bone marrow and blood of breast cancer patients by the Thomsen-Friedenreich-Antigen.

Purpose: The presence of disseminated tumor cells in the bone marrow (DTC-BM) of breast cancer patients has shown independent prognostic impact. Immunomagnetic enrichment of such cells is an approach to increase the number of detected cells with limited sample volume, especially for circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in blood. The Thomsen-Friedenreich (TF) antigen (CD 176) is a specific oncofetal carbohydrate epitope (Galbeta1-3GalNAcalpha-O) expressed on the surface of various carcinomas.

Predictive value of syndecan-1 expression for the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy of primary breast cancer.

Background: The overexpression of syndecan-1 in breast carcinomas correlates with poorer prognosis and an aggressive phenotype. The effect of syndecan-1 expression on tumor response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy was determined in locally advanced breast cancer.

Patients And Methods: Semi-quantitative syndecan-1 immunohistochemistry was performed in pre-chemotherapy breast cancer biopsies of 37 patients undergoing high-dose neoadjuvant treatment with cyclophosphamide and epirubicin.

Increased hemoglobin levels and improved quality-of-life assessments during epoetin alfa treatment in anemic cancer patients: results of a prospective, multicenter German trial.

This prospective, open-label, multicenter study was undertaken to determine the safety and efficacy of epoetin alfa in increasing hemoglobin levels and improving quality of life (QOL), specifically fatigue, in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy with or without radiotherapy (n=702). Epoetin alfa, 10,000 IU three times a week s.c.