MONARCH 3: Abemaciclib As Initial Therapy for Advanced Breast Cancer.

Purpose Abemaciclib, a cyclin-dependent kinase 4 and 6 inhibitor, demonstrated efficacy as monotherapy and in combination with fulvestrant in women with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative advanced breast cancer previously treated with endocrine therapy. Methods MONARCH 3 is a double-blind, randomized phase III study of abemaciclib or placebo plus a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor in 493 postmenopausal women with HR-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer who had no prior systemic therapy in the advanced setting. Patients received abemaciclib or placebo (150 mg twice daily continuous schedule) plus either 1 mg anastrozole or 2.

Tissue confirmation of disease recurrence in breast cancer patients: pooled analysis of multi-centre, multi-disciplinary prospective studies.

Background: Treatment decisions in recurrent breast cancer are usually based on the estrogen (ER), progesterone (PgR) and HER2 receptor status of the primary tumour. Retrospective studies suggest that discordance between receptor expression of primary and recurrent breast cancer exists.

Methods: A pooled analysis of individual patient data from two large prospective studies comprising biopsy of recurrent lesions obtained from consenting patients was undertaken.

Assessing women at high risk of breast cancer: a review of risk assessment models.

Women who are at high risk of breast cancer can be offered more intensive surveillance or prophylactic measures, such as surgery or chemoprevention. Central to decisions regarding the level of prevention is accurate and individualized risk assessment. This review aims to distill the diverse literature and provide practicing clinicians with an overview of the available risk assessment methods.

A phase 2 trial exploring the effects of high-dose (10,000 IU/day) vitamin D(3) in breast cancer patients with bone metastases.

Background: Vitamin D deficiency has potential roles in breast cancer etiology and progression. Vitamin D deficiency has also been associated with increased toxicity from bisphosphonate therapy. The optimal dose of vitamin D supplementation is unknown, but daily sunlight exposure can generate the equivalent of a 10,000-IU oral dose of vitamin D(3).

The role of palliative care in the lung cancer patient: can we improve quality while limiting futile care?

Purpose Of Review: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide, and is diagnosed in the advanced stage in 70% of patients. This study will summarize the most up-to-date strategies in supportive care for patients with metastatic lung cancer.

Recent Findings: Two recent systematic reviews concluded that longer-course radiation treatment offers a survival and symptom benefit over short-course treatment in patients with good performance status.

Adjuvant bisphosphonate therapy for breast cancer patients: Standard of care or future direction?

Bone is the most common site of metastatic spread in breast cancer patients. The use of bisphosphonates (BPs) in women with bone metastases from breast cancer has been shown to reduce the incidence, and delay the onset of, skeletal-related events. Indeed, BPs are now an established standard of care in treating patients with bone metastases.

Overcoming endocrine resistance in breast cancer: are signal transduction inhibitors the answer?

Endocrine therapy is probably the most important systemic therapy for hormone receptor positive breast cancer. Hormonal manipulation was the first targeted treatment employed in breast cancer therapy even before the role of the estrogen (ER) and progesterone receptors (PR) had been elucidated. Unfortunately, a substantial proportion of patients, despite being ER and/or PR positive, are either primarily resistant to hormone therapies or will develop hormone resistance during the course of their disease.