Response of Leptomeningeal Metastasis of Breast Cancer With a HER2/neu Activating Variant to Tucatinib: A Case Report.

Metastatic breast cancer demonstrates HER2/neu amplification approximately 15% of the time. However, HER2 mutations, which often stimulate tumor growth, occur in only 3% to 5% of patients, and are seen more frequently in metastatic versus primary tumors. They are more frequent in lobular carcinoma, including triple-negative lobular cancer.

Phase II Feasibility Study of a Weight Loss Intervention in Female Breast and Colorectal Cancer Survivors (SWOG S1008).

Objective: This study aimed to test the feasibility of a 12-month weight loss intervention using telephone-based counseling plus community-situated physical activity (PA) in female breast cancer (BC) and colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors.

Methods: This multisite cooperative group study enrolled sedentary, female, postmenopausal BC and CRC survivors with BMI ≥ 25 kg/m to receive 12-month fitness center memberships and telephone counseling encouraging 150 min/wk of PA and a 500-kcal/ddecrease in energy intake. Feasibility criteria included accrual, adherence, and retention.

SWOG S0221: a phase III trial comparing chemotherapy schedules in high-risk early-stage breast cancer.

Purpose: To determine the optimal dose and schedule of anthracycline and taxane administration as adjuvant therapy for early-stage breast cancer.

Patients And Methods: A 2 × 2 factorial design was used to test two hypotheses: (1) that a novel continuous schedule of doxorubicin-cyclophosphamide was superior to six cycles of doxorubicin-cyclophosphamide once every 2 weeks and (2) that paclitaxel once per week was superior to six cycles of paclitaxel once every 2 weeks in patients with node-positive or high-risk node-negative early-stage breast cancer. With 3,250 patients, a disease-free survival (DFS) hazard ratio of 0.

A phase II study of docetaxel and vinorelbine plus filgrastim for HER-2 negative, stage IV breast cancer: SWOG S0102.

Docetaxel and vinorelbine have demonstrated Single-agent activity in breast cancer. Preclinical studies suggest potential synergy between these antitubulin chemotherapy agents. This study evaluates these drugs in combination in metastatic breast cancer.

A phase I trial of immunotherapy with lapuleucel-T (APC8024) in patients with refractory metastatic tumors that express HER-2/neu.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the safety of, immune response induced by, and efficacy of treatment with lapuleucel-T (APC8024) in patients with HER-2/neu-expressing tumors. Lapuleucel-T is an investigational active immunotherapy product consisting of autologous peripheral blood mononuclear cells, including antigen presenting cells, which are cultured ex vivo with BA7072, a recombinant fusion antigen consisting of portions of the intracellular and extracellular regions of HER-2/neu linked to granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor.

Experimental Design: Patients with metastatic breast, ovarian, or colorectal cancer whose tumors expressed HER-2 were eligible.

[Tc-99m]-sestamibi uptake and washout in locally advanced breast cancer are correlated with tumor blood flow.

Objectives: To determine the influence of breast tumor blood flow on MIBI kinetics, we compared MIBI uptake and washout to [O-15]-water PET estimates of blood flow in patients with locally advanced breast cancer.

Methods: Prior to therapy, 37 patients underwent MIBI and [O-15]-water PET imaging; 22/37 also had MIBI washout analysis. Twenty-five patients underwent serial imaging over the course of chemotherapy.

Use of serial FDG PET to measure the response of bone-dominant breast cancer to therapy.

Rationale And Objectives: The authors performed this study to determine the feasibility of using quantitative 2-[fluorine-18]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) to monitor the response of breast cancer bone metastases to therapy.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-four women with stage IV bone-dominant breast carcinoma were included in this study. Whole-body FDG PET imaging was performed at serial time points during the course of therapy.

Delayed type hypersensitivity response to recall antigens does not accurately reflect immune competence in advanced stage breast cancer patients.

The development of delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) response to recall antigens has long been utilized as a measure of immune competence. It is assumed that because patients with advanced stage cancers exhibit multiple immune system defects they may not be responsive to immunization. We pre-selected patients with advanced HER-2/neu (HER2) overexpressing breast and ovarian cancers for enrolment into a phase I trial designed to evaluate the immunogenicity of a HER2 peptide vaccine based on the patient's immune competence as assessed by DTH skin testing to common recall antigens (Multitest CMI, Institut Merieux, Lyon, France).

Generation of T-cell immunity to the HER-2/neu protein after active immunization with HER-2/neu peptide-based vaccines.

Purpose: The HER-2/neu protein is a nonmutated tumor antigen that is overexpressed in a variety of human malignancies, including breast and ovarian cancer. Many tumor antigens, such as MAGE and gp100, are self-proteins; therefore, effective vaccine strategies must circumvent tolerance. We hypothesized that immunizing patients with subdominant peptide epitopes derived from HER-2/neu, using an adjuvant known to recruit professional antigen-presenting cells, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, would result in the generation of T-cell immunity specific for the HER-2/neu protein.

Flt3 ligand as a vaccine adjuvant in association with HER-2/neu peptide-based vaccines in patients with HER-2/neu-overexpressing cancers.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are potent antigen-presenting cells and have shown promise to function as "natural" vaccine adjuvants. Currently, most cancer vaccine trials using DCs generate autologous DCs ex vivo for each patient. Systemic treatment with Flt3 ligand (FL) results in a marked increase of DCs in tissues such as spleen and lymph nodes in mice and in the peripheral blood and skin of humans.