Adjuvant platinum versus capecitabine for residual, invasive, triple-negative breast cancer: Patient-reported outcomes in ECOG-ACRIN EA1131.

Background: Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are a better tool for evaluating the experiences of patients who have symptomatic, treatment-associated adverse events (AEs) compared with clinician-rated AEs. The authors present PROs assessing health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and treatment-related neurotoxicity for adjuvant capecitabine versus platinum on the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group-American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ECOG-ACRIN) EA1131 trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT02445391).

Preservation of quality of life in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive metastatic breast cancer treated with tucatinib or placebo when added to trastuzumab and capecitabine (HER2CLIMB trial).

Aims: In HER2CLIMB, tucatinib significantly improved progression-free and overall survival in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive (HER2+) metastatic breast cancer. We evaluated the impact of tucatinib on health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) in HER2CLIMB.

Methods: Patients were randomised 2:1 to tucatinib or placebo combined with trastuzumab and capecitabine.

Circulating tumor cell number and endocrine therapy index in ER positive metastatic breast cancer patients.

Circulating tumor cells (CTC) are prognostic in metastatic breast cancer (MBC). The CTC-endocrine therapy index (CTC-ETI), consisting of CTC-ER (estrogen receptor), BCL2, human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER2), and Ki67 expression, might predict resistance to endocrine therapy (ET) in patients with ER-positive MBC. One hundred twenty-one patients with ER-positive/HER2-negative MBC initiating a new ET after ≥1 lines of ET were enrolled in a prospective, multi-institutional clinical trial.

Randomized Phase III Postoperative Trial of Platinum-Based Chemotherapy Versus Capecitabine in Patients With Residual Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Following Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy: ECOG-ACRIN EA1131.

Purpose: Patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and residual invasive disease (RD) after completion of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) have a high-risk for recurrence, which is reduced by adjuvant capecitabine. Preclinical models support the use of platinum agents in the TNBC basal subtype. The EA1131 trial hypothesized that invasive disease-free survival (iDFS) would not be inferior but improved in patients with basal subtype TNBC treated with adjuvant platinum compared with capecitabine.

Efficacy and Safety of Weekly Paclitaxel With or Without Oral Alisertib in Patients With Metastatic Breast Cancer: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Elevated expression of AURKA adversely affects prognosis in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive and ERBB2 (formerly HER2)-negative and triple-negative breast cancer and is associated with resistance to taxanes.

Objective: To compare paclitaxel alone vs paclitaxel plus alisertib in patients with ER-positive and ERBB2-negative or triple-negative metastatic breast cancer (MBC).

Design, Setting, And Participants: In this randomized clinical trial conducted with the US Oncology Network, participants were randomized to intravenous (IV) paclitaxel 90 mg/m2 on days 1, 8, and 15 on a 28-day cycle or IV paclitaxel 60 mg/m2 on days 1, 8, and 15 plus oral alisertib 40 mg twice daily on days 1 to 3, 8 to 10, and 15 to 17 on a 28-day cycle.

Use of the blood substitute HBOC-201 in critically ill patients during sickle crisis: a three-case series.

Background: Red blood cell (RBC) transfusion is an important treatment modality during severe sickle cell crisis (SCC). SCC patients who refuse, or cannot accept, RBCs present a unique challenge. Acellular hemoglobin (Hb)-based oxygen carriers (HBOCs) might be an alternative for critically ill patients in SCC with multiorgan failure due to life-threatening anemia.

Is bortezomib, a proteasome inhibitor, effective in treating cancer-associated weight loss? Preliminary results from the North Central Cancer Treatment Group.

Background: Weight loss predicts a poor prognosis for cancer patients, and previous studies have implicated the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway as a major mediator of cancer-associated weight loss. The recent emergence of bortezomib, a proteasome inhibitor, now allows testing on whether proteasome inhibition is effective therapy for cancer-associated weight loss.

Methods: This study represents a subanalysis from two prior antineoplastic trials in patients with adenocarcinoma of the pancreas.

A phase II study of topical ceramides for cutaneous breast cancer.

Purpose: Short chain ceramides induce tumor cell apoptosis in preclinical models. Limited therapeutic options for patients with cutaneous breast cancer prompted the testing of these sphingolipids in patients with this disease.

Patients And Methods: Twenty-five patients with refractory, cutaneous breast cancer were treated twice a day with a 1% mixture of topical C2 and C6 ceramides administered in a 1:1 ratio.