Genome-wide association studies of survival in 1520 cancer patients treated with bevacizumab-containing regimens.

Germline variants might predict cancer progression. Bevacizumab improves overall survival (OS) in patients with advanced cancers. No biomarkers are available to identify patients that benefit from bevacizumab.

A clinical calculator to predict disease outcomes in women with hormone receptor-positive advanced breast cancer treated with first-line endocrine therapy.

Purpose: Endocrine therapy (ET) is an effective strategy to treat hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HR+/HER2-) advanced breast cancer (ABC) but nearly all patients eventually progress. Our goal was to develop and validate a web-based clinical calculator for predicting disease outcomes in women with HR+ABC who are candidates for receiving first-line single-agent ET.

Methods: The meta-database comprises 891 patient-level data from the control arms of five contemporary clinical trials where patients received first-line single-agent ET (either aromatase inhibitor or fulvestrant) for ABC.

Brain morphometry in adults with gambling disorder.

Little is known regarding the brain substrates of Gambling Disorder, including surface brain morphometry, and whether these are linked to the clinical profile. A better understanding of the brain substrates will likely help determine targets to treat patients. Hence, the aim of this study was two-fold, that is to examine surface-based morphometry in 17 patients with gambling disorder as compared to norms of healthy individuals (2713 and 2790 subjects for cortical and subcortical anatomical scans, respectively) and to assess the clinical relevance of morphometry in patients with Gambling Disorder.

Concurrent Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation and Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Patients with Gambling Disorder.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) delivered over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) while patients are at rest can decrease craving in patients with substance-related and addictive disorders. Yet, the effects of tDCS on resting-state brain activity remain unknown in this population. This study examined the effects of tDCS on resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) with concurrent stimulation and functional magnetic resonance imaging in patients with gambling disorder.

Impact of adjuvant chemotherapy or tamoxifen-alone on the ovarian reserve of young women with breast cancer.

Purpose: To determine the longitudinal impact of adjuvant chemotherapy and tamoxifen-only treatments on the reproductive potential of women with breast cancer by using a sensitive ovarian reserve marker anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) as a surrogate.

Methods: One-hundred-and-forty-two women with a primary diagnosis of breast cancer were prospectively followed with serum AMH assessments before the initiation, and 12, 18 and 24 months after the completion of adjuvant chemotherapy or the start of tamoxifen-only treatment. The chemotherapy regimens were classified into Anthracycline-Cyclophosphamide-based (AC-based) and Cyclophosphamide-Methotrexate + 5-Fluorouracil (CMF).

Alterations in and promote clinical resistance to alpelisib plus aromatase inhibitors.

Alpelisib is a selective inhibitor of PI3Kα, shown to improve outcomes for mutant, hormone receptor positive (HR+) metastatic breast cancers (MBC) when combined with antiestrogen therapy. To uncover mechanisms of resistance, we conducted a detailed, longitudinal analysis of tumor and plasma circulating tumor DNA among such patients from a phase I/II trial combining alpelisib with an aromatase inhibitor (AI) (NCT01870505). The trial's primary objective was to establish safety with maculopapular rash emerging as the most common grade 3 adverse event (33%).

Real-world survival outcomes of heavily pretreated patients with refractory HR+, HER2-metastatic breast cancer receiving single-agent chemotherapy-a comparison with MONARCH 1.

Purpose: In MONARCH 1 (NCT02102490), single-agent abemaciclib demonstrated promising efficacy activity and tolerability in a population of heavily pretreated women with refractory HR+, HER2- metastatic breast cancer (MBC). To help interpret these results and put in clinical context, we compared overall survival (OS) and duration of therapy (DoT) between MONARCH 1 and a real-world single-agent chemotherapy cohort.

Methods: The real-world chemotherapy cohort was created from a Flatiron Health electronic health records-derived database based on key eligibility criteria from MONARCH 1.

Clinical Significance of Circulating Tumor Cells in Hormone Receptor-positive Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients who Received Letrozole with or Without Bevacizumab.

Purpose: We evaluated the prognostic and predictive value of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) hormone receptor-positive (HR) metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients randomized to letrozole alone or letrozole plus bevacizumab in the first-line setting (CALGB 40503).

Experimental Design: Blood samples were collected at pretreatment and three additional time points during therapy. The presence of ≥5 CTCs per 7.

A single-arm, prospective trial investigating the effectiveness of a non-hormonal vaginal moisturizer containing hyaluronic acid in postmenopausal cancer survivors.

Purpose: To assess the feasibility and efficacy of a non-hormonal hyaluronic acid (HLA) vaginal gel in improving vulvovaginal estrogen-deprivation symptoms in postmenopausal women with a history of hormone receptor-positive (HR+) cancer.

Methods: For this single-arm, prospective longitudinal trial, we identified disease-free patients with a history of HR+ breast cancer treated with aromatase inhibitors or HR+ endometrial cancer treated with surgery and postoperative radiation. Participants used HLA daily for the first 2 weeks, and then 3×/week until weeks 12-14; dosage was then increased to 5×/week for non-responders.

Toward Improving Practices for Submission of Diagnostic Tissue Blocks for National Cancer Institute Clinical Trials.

Objectives: The National Cancer Institute (NCI) National Clinical Trials Network performs phase II and III clinical trials, which increasingly rely on the submission of diagnostic formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue blocks for biomarker assessment. Simultaneously, advances in precision oncology require that clinical centers maintain diagnostic specimens for ancillary, standard-of-care diagnostics. This has caused tissue blocks to become a limited resource for advancing the NCI clinical trial enterprise and the practice of modern molecular pathology.

Multifocal/Multicentric Ipsilateral Invasive Breast Carcinomas with Similar Histology: Is Multigene Testing of All Individual Foci Necessary?

Background: Multiple synchronous ipsilateral invasive breast carcinomas (BCs) with similar histology usually have concordant receptor status. It is unknown whether individual foci with similar histology also share molecular and biological similarities or are heterogenous. This study examined the concordance of the 21-gene recurrence score (RS) in multiple synchronous morphologically similar ipsilateral BCs.

The Genomic Landscape of Endocrine-Resistant Advanced Breast Cancers.

We integrated the genomic sequencing of 1,918 breast cancers, including 1,501 hormone receptor-positive tumors, with detailed clinical information and treatment outcomes. In 692 tumors previously exposed to hormonal therapy, we identified an increased number of alterations in genes involved in the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway and in the estrogen receptor transcriptional machinery. Activating ERBB2 mutations and NF1 loss-of-function mutations were more than twice as common in endocrine resistant tumors.

A phase IIA trial of acupuncture to reduce chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy severity during neoadjuvant or adjuvant weekly paclitaxel chemotherapy in breast cancer patients.

Purpose: Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a common and potentially dose-limiting side-effect of neurotoxic chemotherapy for cancer patients. We evaluated the preliminary efficacy of acupuncture in preventing worsening CIPN in patients receiving paclitaxel.

Methods: In this phase IIA single-arm clinical trial, we screened stage I-III breast cancer patients receiving neoadjuvant/adjuvant weekly paclitaxel for development of CIPN.

A rigorous evaluation of an institutionally-based communication skills program for post-graduate oncology trainees.

Objective: Integrating education about physician-patient communication into oncology specialists' education is important to improve quality of care. Our aim was to rigorously evaluate a 4-year institutionally-based patient communication skills program for oncology post-graduate trainees.

Methods: Trainees from 10 specialties in the U.

Phase II Study of Taselisib (GDC-0032) in Combination with Fulvestrant in Patients with HER2-Negative, Hormone Receptor-Positive Advanced Breast Cancer.

This single-arm, open-label phase II study evaluated the safety and efficacy of taselisib (GDC-0032) plus fulvestrant in postmenopausal women with locally advanced or metastatic HER2-negative, hormone receptor (HR)-positive breast cancer. Patients received 6-mg oral taselisib capsules daily plus intramuscular fulvestrant (500 mg) until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Tumor tissue (if available) was centrally evaluated for mutations.

Identification of risk factors for toxicity in patients with hormone receptor-positive advanced breast cancer treated with bevacizumab plus letrozole: a CALGB 40503 (alliance) correlative study.

Background: In hormone receptor-positive advanced breast cancer, a progression-free survival benefit was reported with addition of bevacizumab to first-line letrozole. However, increased toxicity was observed. We hypothesized that functional age measures could be used to identify patients at risk for toxicity while receiving letrozole plus bevacizumab for hormone receptor-positive advanced breast cancer.

Checkpoint Inhibitors in the Treatment of Breast Cancer.

Purpose Of Review: The treatment landscape for many cancers has dramatically changed with the development of checkpoint inhibitors. This article will review the literature concerning the use of checkpoint inhibitors in breast cancer.

Recent Findings: The histological subtype of BC with the strongest signal of efficacy has been triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).