Age-based heuristics can lead to large differences in breast cancer treatment based on small differences in chronologic age, according to a new analysis of more than 500,000 patient records. Radiation therapy often is given after breast-conserving surgery to help prevent a patient’s cancer from returning. While post-surgical radiation may be omitted for certain patients with early-stage breast cancer – including …
Accuracy of Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsies Are Vital to Inform Treatment Decisions in Breast Cancer
By: Ryan Scott From: onclive.com The evolving treatment landscape across breast cancer has escalated the need for the accuracy of sentinel lymph node biopsies following treatment with neoadjuvant chemotherapy to correctly inform subsequent treatment decisions for patients, according to Anna Weiss, MD. “Accuracy is important for our medical oncology colleagues because, more and more, treatment decisions are personalized to the …
Side effects of radiation therapy for breast cancer
By: Cynthia DeMarco From: mdanderson.org If you need radiation therapy as a part of your breast cancer treatment, you may have questions about side effects. What are the most common side effects, for instance? How long will they last? And, is there any way to prevent or reduce them? To learn more, we went to Wendy Woodward, M.D., Ph.D., a …
Updates in the Treatment of Early-stage HR+ Breast Cancer
By: Charles Geyer From: onclive.com Two breast cancer experts review updates from the SOFT and TAILORx trials and discuss racial disparities in breast cancer treatment and clinical trials. Dr. Ian Krop: So, kind of keeping with this theme of how we personalize therapy, we had in the adjuvant setting, we had this – I thought it was an interesting analysis …
New research could be the first step in better targeting breast cancer treatment
Source: Hunter Medical Research Institute From: news-medical.net Lead author of the study, HMRI and University of Newcastle PhD researcher Luiza Steffens-Reinhardt, said this work could lead to more effective chemotherapy for people with breast cancer. Breast cancer affects more than 19,000 women every year in Australia and around one-quarter of these people develop treatment resistance. “The primary reason women die …
Breast Cancer and Vitamin D: Is there a Connection?
From: blackdoctor.org The relationship between vitamin D levels and breast cancer has generated some debate. According to recent studies, having low vitamin D levels may increase the chance of cancer recurrence. Vitamin D has extra advantages for those attempting to reduce their chance of developing breast cancer and those undergoing cancer treatment. Vitamin D: What Is It? The “sunshine vitamin” is also …
Current Treatment Landscape for HR+/HER2- Breast Cancer
From: pharmacytimes.com Wassim McHayleh, MD, MBA, FACP: The first-line treatment of metastatic hormone-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer depends on whether the patient is endocrine resistant or endocrine sensitive. If a patient presents with de novo metastatic disease or recurs years after stopping endocrine therapy, this is an endocrine-sensitive patient. For those particular patients, the first-line treatment consists of an AI [aromatase …
Factors Guiding Treatment of HR+/HER2- Breast Cancer
From: pharmacytimes.com Wassim McHayleh, MD, MBA, FACP: Hello, and welcome to this Pharmacy Times® Practice Pearls program titled “Targeted Treatment of HR+/HER2- Breast Cancer.” My name is Wassim McHayleh, and I’m the clinical program director of breast oncology at AdventHealth Cancer Institute in Orlando, Florida. Joining me in this discussion is Dr Alisa Vinokurov, a clinical oncology pharmacist with AdventHealth …
Evolution of Pharmacist Role in Treatment and Management of Breast Cancer
From: pharmacytimes.com Alisa Vinokurov, PharmD: The role of pharmacists has evolved within the last couple of years, specifically in niche fields, such as oncology. We’re no longer sitting in the basement of hospitals or closed off without any windows only verifying orders. We work closely with the infusion center pharmacists, but in this specialized role as clinical oncology pharmacists, we …
OS Advances Gather Steam in Breast Cancer
By: Anita T. Shaffer From: onclive.com The treatment of patients with breast cancer is making noteworthy strides in several clinical settings, with recent trial results showing overall survival improvements for advanced and metastatic disease. The treatment of patients with breast cancer is making noteworthy strides in several clinical settings, with recent trial results showing overall survival (OS) improvements for advanced …