Retrospective Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Primary Breast Cancer Care.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed breast cancer care for patients and healthcare providers. Circumstances varied greatly by region and hospital, depending on COVID-19 prevalence, case mix, hospital type, and available resources. These challenges have disrupted screening programs and have been particularly distressing for both women with a breast cancer diagnosis and their providers.

The impact of physical activity on progression-free and overall survival in metastatic breast cancer based on molecular subtype.

Background: Although adequate physical activity has been shown to be beneficial in early breast cancer, evidence in metastatic breast cancer is sparse and contradictory, which could be related to distinct effects of physical activity on the different molecular cancer subtypes. Therefore, we here evaluated the effect of physical activity on progression-free and overall survival (PFS, OS) in metastatic breast cancer, specifically looking at molecular subtypes.

Methods: International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) questionnaires, filled out by patients enrolled in the prospective PRAEGNANT registry (NCT02338167; n = 1,270) were used to calculate metabolic equivalent task (MET) minutes, which were subsequently categorized into low (n = 138), moderate (n = 995) or high IPAQ categories (n = 137).

Prognostic impact of selection criteria of current adjuvant endocrine therapy trials NATALEE and monarchE in postmenopausal HRpos/HER2neg breast cancer patients treated with upfront letrozole.

Background: The monarchE and NATALEE trials demonstrated the benefit of CDK4/6 inhibitor (CDK4/6i) therapy in adjuvant breast cancer (BC) treatment. Patient selection, based on clinical characteristics, delineated those at high (monarchE) and high/intermediate recurrence risk (NATALEE). This study employed a historical patient cohort to describe the proportion and prognosis of patients eligible for adjuvant CDK4/6i trials.

Susceptibility gene mutations in germline and tumors of patients with HER2-negative advanced breast cancer.

Germline mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 (gBRCA1/2) are required for a PARP inhibitor therapy in patients with HER2-negative (HER2-) advanced breast cancer (aBC). However, little is known about the prognostic impact of gBRCA1/2 mutations in aBC patients treated with chemotherapy. This study aimed to investigate the frequencies and prognosis of germline and somatic BRCA1/2 mutations in HER2- aBC patients receiving the first chemotherapy in the advanced setting.

CDK4/6 Inhibition - Therapy Sequences and the Quest to Find the Best Biomarkers - an Overview of Current Programs.

In recent years, new targeted therapies have been developed to treat patients with hormone receptor-positive (HR+)/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-) breast cancer. Some of these therapies have not just become the new therapy standard but also led to significantly longer overall survival rates. The cyclin-dependent kinase 4 and 6 inhibitors (CDK4/6i) have become the therapeutic standard for first-line therapy.

Attrition in the First Three Therapy Lines in Patients with Advanced Breast Cancer in the German Real-World PRAEGNANT Registry.

With more effective therapies for patients with advanced breast cancer (aBC), therapy sequences are becoming increasingly important. However, some patients might drop out of the treatment sequence due to deterioration of their life status. Since little is known about attrition in the real-world setting, this study assessed attrition in the first three therapy lines using a real-world registry.

Long-term Follow-up and Safety of Patients after an Upfront Therapy with Letrozole for Early Breast Cancer in Routine Clinical Care - The PreFace Study.

Introduction: Adjuvant treatment of patients with early-stage breast cancer (BC) should include an aromatase inhibitor (AI). Especially patients with a high recurrence risk might benefit from an upfront therapy with an AI for a minimum of five years. Nevertheless, not much is known about the patient selection for this population in clinical practice.

Update Breast Cancer 2023 Part 2 - Advanced-Stage Breast Cancer.

In recent years, a number of new therapies have led to advances in the treatment of patients with advanced breast carcinoma. These substances are mainly CDK4/6 inhibitors and other substances that can overcome endocrine resistance, oral selective estrogen receptor degraders, antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), and PARP inhibitors. This review summarizes and evaluates the latest study results that have been published in recent months.

Update Breast Cancer 2023 Part 1 - Early Stage Breast Cancer.

With abemaciclib (monarchE study) and olaparib (OlympiA study) gaining approval in the adjuvant treatment setting, a significant change in the standard of care for patients with early stage breast cancer has been established for some time now. Accordingly, some diverse developments are slowly being transferred from the metastatic to the adjuvant treatment setting. Recently, there have also been positive reports of the NATALEE study.

Endovascular coil-embolization of an unruptured, true UAA during early pregnancy- a case report.

Background: True uterine artery aneurysms, especially during pregnancy, are a rare entity and not well understood. Clinical symptoms are unspecific pelvic pain and pressure. Diagnosis can be confirmed by transvaginal color-coded-sonography and/or magnetic resonance imaging.

Update Breast Cancer 2023 Part 3 - Expert Opinions of Early Stage Breast Cancer Therapies.

The St. Gallen (SG) International Breast Cancer Conference is held every two years, previously in St. Gallen and now in Vienna.

Impact of surgical variables on residual glandular tissue in risk-reducing mastectomies: Results of a retrospective monocentric study from a center of the German consortium for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer.

Purpose: Residual glandular tissue (RGT) after risk reducing mastectomy (RRME) is associated with a risk of developing breast cancer for women with a familial predisposition. We aim to examine various surgery-related variables to make risk more easily assessable and to aid in decision-making.

Materials And Methods: Pre- and postoperative breast MRI scans from 2006 to 2021 of patients with proven pathogenic mutation were included.

Systemic Therapy of Premenopausal Patients with Early Stage Hormone Receptor-Positive, HER2-Negative Breast Cancer - Controversies and Standards in Healthcare.

In patients with existing ovarian function, there are some special aspects to adjuvant endocrine therapy in premenopausal patients with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative (HR pos./HER2 neg.) breast cancer.

Update Breast Cancer 2022 Part 6 - Advanced-Stage Breast Cancer.

Large-scale study programs on CDK4/6 inhibitors, targeted therapies, and antibody-drug conjugates launched in recent years have yielded results from current studies which are now being published in journals and presented at international conferences. In this context, new results are available from the major CDK4/6 inhibitor studies. Also, an increasing amount of data is being published from large-scale genomic studies on efficacy and resistance mechanisms in patients treated with CDK4/6 inhibitors.

Update Breast Cancer 2022 Part 5 - Early Stage Breast Cancer.

The treatment of patients with early stage breast cancer has changed in recent years due to the introduction of pembrolizumab, olaparib, and abemaciclib. These and other drugs with the same class of active ingredient are currently in trial for various indications. This review article summarizes the latest results that have either been presented at major conferences such as the ESMO 2022 or published recently in international journals.

Pembrolizumab in combination with nab-paclitaxel for the treatment of patients with early-stage triple-negative breast cancer - A single-arm phase II trial (NeoImmunoboost, AGO-B-041).

Background: Pembrolizumab is approved for the neoadjuvant/adjuvant treatment of early triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients in combination with chemotherapy. The Keynote-522 trial used platinum chemotherapy. As neoadjuvant nab-paclitaxel (nP) is also highly effective in triple-negative breast cancer patients, this study investigates the response to nP-containing neoadjuvant chemotherapy in combination with pembrolizumab.

Association of the CHEK2 c.1100delC variant, radiotherapy, and systemic treatment with contralateral breast cancer risk and breast cancer-specific survival.

Breast cancer (BC) patients with a germline c.1100delC variant have an increased risk of contralateral BC (CBC) and worse BC-specific survival (BCSS) compared to non-carriers. We aimed to assess the associations of c.

Return of individual genomic research results within the PRAEGNANT multicenter registry study.

Purpose: The PRAEGNANT study is a registry study for metastatic breast cancer patients, focusing on biomarker detection. Recently, within this study, genetic alterations in 37 breast cancer predisposition genes were analyzed and genetic findings were detected for 396 participants. The aim of this project was to return genetic results to the physicians and to analyze actions taken (e.

Implementation of CDK4/6 Inhibitors and its Influence on the Treatment Landscape of Advanced Breast Cancer Patients - Data from the Real-World Registry PRAEGNANT.

Comprehensive data from prospective clinical trials have led to a high level of evidence establishing CDK4/6 inhibitors in combination with endocrine treatment (CDK4/6i + ET) as a standard for the treatment of HER2-negative, hormone receptor-positive (HER2- HR+) breast cancer patients in the first-line advanced therapy setting. Data on patient populations that have been treated in the real-world setting may provide an insight into changes of patient characteristics and prognosis over time. The data were extracted from the prospective real-world registry PRAEGNANT (NCT02338167).