Breast Cancer Research

Many women diagnosed with ovarian and breast cancer are not undergoing tests for inherited genetic mutations that can provide important information to help guide decisions about treatment and longer-term cancer screening, a new study has found.

FDA has approved atezolizumab (Tecentriq) in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of some women with advanced triple-negative breast cancer. This is the first FDA-approved regimen for breast cancer to include immunotherapy.

The build-up of connective tissue around some types of cancer can act as a barrier to immunotherapy. A new study uses a bone marrow transplant drug, plerixafor, to break down this barrier and improve the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in animal models of breast cancer.

A new study in mice shows that disrupting the relationship between breast cancer cells that spread to bone and normal cells surrounding them makes the cancer cells sensitive to treatment.

In women with early-stage breast cancer, two clinical trials have shown that both whole- and partial-breast radiation therapy are effective at preventing the cancer from returning after breast-conserving surgery.

Researchers are testing a topical-gel form of the drug tamoxifen to see if it can help prevent breast cancer as effectively as the oral form of the drug but with fewer side effects.

Findings from a clinical study and a mouse study may shed light on genetic risk factors for developing cancer-related cognitive problems in older breast cancer survivors. The results suggest a gene associated with Alzheimer’s disease may play a role.

Arsenic trioxide and retinoic acid work together to target the master regulator protein Pin1, a new study shows. In cancer cell lines and mice, the drug combination slowed the growth of triple-negative breast cancer tumors.

FDA has expanded the approved uses of ribociclib (Kisqali) for women with advanced breast cancer, including new uses in pre- and postmenopausal women. It’s the first approval under a new FDA program to speed the review of cancer drugs.

Using a liquid biopsy to test for tumor cells circulating in blood, researchers found that, in women with breast cancer, the presence of these cells could identify women at risk of their cancer returning years later.

Findings from the TAILORx clinical trial show chemotherapy does not benefit most women with early breast cancer. The new data, released at the 2018 ASCO annual meeting, will help inform treatment decisions for many women with early-stage breast cancer.

Do cancer study participants want to receive their genetic test results? A recent study involving women with a history of breast cancer tested an approach for returning genetic research results and evaluated the impact those results had on the women.

Researchers compared the risk of death for women with breast cancer who had low skeletal muscle mass, or sarcopenia, at the time of their cancer diagnosis and women who had adequate muscle mass.

Some people who have been treated for breast cancer or lymphoma have a higher risk of developing congestive heart failure than people who haven’t had cancer, results from a new study show.

FDA has approved the CDK4/6 inhibitor abemaciclib (Verzenio) as a first-line treatment in some women with advanced or metastatic breast cancer. Under the approval, the drug must be used in combination with an aromatase inhibitor.

A new study in mice raises the possibility that using microscopic, oxygen-carrying bubbles may improve the effectiveness of radiation therapy in the treatment of breast cancer.

The drug olaparib (Lynparza®) is the first treatment approved by the Food and Drug Administration for patients with metastatic breast cancer who have inherited mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes.

Joint pain caused by aromatase inhibitors in postmenopausal women with breast cancer can cause some women to stop taking the drugs. Reducing their symptoms may translate into better adherence to therapy.

A new study suggests that the cells in treatment-resistant tumors in women with metastatic breast cancer share important characteristics that could potentially make tumors vulnerable to therapies that otherwise might not have been considered.

A large nationwide clinical trial called TMIST has been launched to compare two techniques used for mammograms: tomosynthesis, often called 3D mammography, and standard 2D digital mammography.

FDA approved abemaciclib (Verzenio™) for the treatment of some people with advanced or metastatic HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer whose disease has progressed after treatment with hormone therapy.

Long-term results from a large clinical trial confirm that, for some women with early-stage breast cancer who have lumpectomy as their surgical treatment, a less extensive lymph node biopsy approach is sufficient.

When given at the same time, two immune checkpoint inhibitors were ineffective against breast cancer growth in mice, a new study found. The combination was more effective and safer if the two inhibitors were given in a specific sequence.

FDA has expanded its approval of fulvestrant (Faslodex®) as a standalone treatment for postmenopausal women with advanced HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer who have not previously undergone endocrine therapy.

Many women who receive taxane-based chemotherapy to treat breast cancer experience long-term nerve damage, or peripheral neuropathy, data from a large clinical trial show.

Researchers recognized the potential of endoxifen as a treatment for breast cancer and, with NCI support, developed the compound into a drug now being tested in clinical trials.

Researchers have used modified stem cells to deliver a cancer drug selectively to metastatic breast cancer tumors in mice. The stem cells target metastatic tumors by homing in on the stiff environment that typically surrounds them.

FDA has approved neratinib for patients with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer who have finished at least 1 year of adjuvant therapy with trastuzumab.

Many survivors of early-stage breast cancer prefer that their oncologist handle aspects of routine medical care usually overseen by primary care practitioners, leading to concerns about gaps in care.

Results from the first large prospective study of breast and ovarian cancer risk in women with inherited mutations in the BRCA 1 or BRCA2 genes confirm the high risks estimated from earlier, retrospective studies.

Two clinical trials show that trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) improves survival compared with other standard treatments for patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer that has progressed after treatment with other HER2-targeted drugs.

Using one of the largest collections of tumor samples from African Americans with breast cancer, researchers tried to assess the extent to which the molecular characteristics on these tumors might help to explain breast cancer disparities.

A new study shows that the number of women in the United States living with distant metastatic breast cancer (MBC), the most severe form of the disease, is growing. This is likely due to the aging of the U.S. population and improvements in treatment.

In a randomized trial, low-income women who role-played talking with their doctor about their survivorship care plan in a counseling session reported receiving more of their recommended care than women who did not get counseling.

Researchers are testing individualized approaches that could identify those at risk of breast cancer who need to be screened and testing screening intervals that are appropriate for each person’s level of risk.

The FDA has approved a new targeted therapy, ribociclib, and expanded its earlier approval of another targeted therapy, palbociclib, for some women with metastatic breast cancer.

Researchers have found that duloxetine (Cymbalta®), a drug most commonly used to treat depression, may also reduce joint pain caused by aromatase inhibitors in some women being treated for early-stage breast cancer.

A new study has found that subsidies for prescription drugs can improve the use of adjuvant therapy in women with early-stage breast cancer and help reduce disparities in the use of these proven treatments among black and Hispanic women.

First-line therapy consisting of ribociclib plus letrozole (Femara®) improves progression-free survival for postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer, according to the interim results of a phase III clinical trial.

The Breast Cancer Genetic Study in African-Ancestry Populations initiative is a collaborative research project that will identify genetic factors that may underlie breast cancer disparities. It is the largest study ever to investigate how genetic and biological factors contribute to breast cancer risk among black women.

Results from a recent clinical trial showed that extending adjuvant therapy with an aromatase inhibitor to 10 years after initial treatment can have important benefits for postmenopausal women with early-stage hormone receptor–positive breast cancer.

Low vitamin D levels are associated with metastasis in women with breast cancer, suggests a new study.

Testing for genetic mutations strongly associated with an increased risk of breast cancer has risen dramatically among women younger than age 40 who are diagnosed with the disease, according to a new study.

In a large clinical trial, giving a hormone-suppressing drug helped some younger women with breast cancer get pregnant after completing cancer treatment.

A new approach to disrupting genes that promote the development and spread of tumors may hold promise for treating an aggressive and difficult-to-treat type of breast cancer.

Investigators with The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network have identified molecular characteristics of a type of breast cancer, invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC), that distinguishes it from invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC), the most common invasive breast cancer subtype.

Initial findings from the Trial Assigning Individualized Options for Treatment, or TAILORx, finds that women with early-stage hormone receptor-positive breast cancer have a low risk of recurrence based on a test for the expression of 21 genes.

Bisphosphonates can reduce the rate of breast cancer recurrence in bone, according to a meta-analysis of randomized trials of bisphosphonates as adjuvant therapy for women with early-stage breast cancer.

Women who are diagnosed with a condition called ductal carcinoma in situ generally have a low risk of dying from breast cancer, a new study has found.

An interim analysis of the PALOMA3 trial shows that palbociclib plus fulvestrant extends the progression-free survival of some women with hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer.

Large-scale study helps clarify factors associated with breast cancer survival in women of all ages.

Breast density is just one of several factors that should be taken into account in determining the need for additional cancer screening, study suggests.

Combining two drugs that target the HER2 protein, trastuzumab (Herceptin®) and pertuzumab, with chemotherapy is a new treatment option for women with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, according to final results from a large clinical trial.

Palbociclib (Ibrance) is approved to be used in combination with letrozole (Femara) to treat postmenopausal women with metastatic breast cancer.