Source: European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO)
From: news-medical.net
The much-anticipated ESMO Clinical Practice Guideline for the diagnosis, staging and treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer has been published today in Annals of Oncology. Amidst public information and support initiatives taking place worldwide on the occasion of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the publication marks a milestone for the translation of recent research achievements into practical improvements to patient care in the era of precision medicine.
With clinical trial evidence on novel therapeutic approaches now sufficiently robust to inform oncologists’ routine decision-making processes, the newly released guideline encompasses all major developments of the last few years to offer a comprehensive picture of the state of the art in advanced breast cancer management. Developed by a panel of 28 of the most prominent experts in this field, it thereby takes the place of the previous reference document, the 5th ESO-ESMO international consensus guidelines for advanced breast cancer.
In a context where the tumour biology of progressive disease is thought to have been altered under the selective pressure of improved treatments for early breast cancer and where emerging targeted therapies could lead to revisions of the current breast cancer subtypes in the future, the ESMO guideline comes on time to support upcoming discussions on possible evolutions in practice — but it will also evolve alongside them.
Going forward, a “living” version of the guidelines to be published on the ESMO website will offer a user-oriented, interactive tool allowing doctors to access treatment algorithms, important reference materials and regular updates as needed, in real time. The corresponding Pan-Asian Guideline Adaptation for metastatic breast cancer, taking into account ethnic, scientific, socioeconomic and regional practice characteristics, will be published in 2022 and provide practitioners working across Asia with an applicable method to optimise patient care in their local context.
Barbara Jacoby is an award winning blogger that has contributed her writings to multiple online publications that have touched readers worldwide.