
Breast Cancer

Addition of pembrolizumab improves pCR in patients with early-stage high-risk ER+/HER2- breast cancer
Benefit of pembrolizumab in TNBC remains after 5 years follow up

SONIA: No survival benefit with first-line versus second-line CDK4/6 inhibition in metastatic breast cancer
Adjuvant ribociclib improves invasive DFS in early breast cancer
Gene expression profiles predict benefit of neoadjuvant immune checkpoint therapy in triple-negative breast cancer


Racial disparity in the tumour microenvironment
Chemo-endocrine therapy worse for cognition than endocrine therapy alone
Resistance to CDK4/6 inhibitors is likely due to expansion of pre-existing resistant clones
Baseline CTC count can guide first-line treatment in HR-positive/HER-negative metastatic breast cancer
Germline pathogenic variants for breast cancer also increase contralateral breast cancer risk
Low-dose tamoxifen still prevents recurrence from non-invasive breast cancer

Endocrine interruption to pursue pregnancy does not impact short-term disease in breast cancer
ZNF689 deficiency promotes intratumour heterogeneity and resistance to immune checkpoint blockade in TNBC
Oestradiol represses anti-tumoural immune response to promote progression of brain metastases
Benefit of adjuvant abemaciclib continues to deepen at longer follow-up

First-line ribociclib plus endocrine therapy outperforms combination chemotherapy

Treatment options beyond CDK4/6 inhibition

Trastuzumab deruxtecan effective in both second-line and neoadjuvant setting
Anti-PD-1/anti-LAG-3 combination highly effective in HER2-negative breast cancer
MammaPrint test predictive for benefit of extended endocrine therapy
Tumour infiltrating lymphocytes identify patients with immunogenic triple-negative breast cancer
OS benefit of abemaciclib in HR-positive/HER2-negative advanced breast cancer not (yet) statistically significant
OS benefit of sacituzumab govitecan in pre-treated HR-positive/HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer


Bacterial decolonisation effective against radiation dermatitis
Sacituzumab govitecan meets primary endpoint
Shaky OS results of palbociclib in ER-positive/HER2-negative breast cancer

Practice-changing results of T-DXd in HER2-low breast cancer
SET2,3 to inform on chemotherapy decisions in ER-positive breast cancer
Metastasis-directed therapy fails in oligometastatic breast cancer

Analysis by residual cancer burden further clarifies effect of pembrolizumab

Contribution of metastatic therapies on mortality reduction in breast cancer
Radiotherapy may be omitted in breast cancer patients
Promising data for ribociclib after progression on ET plus CDK4/6 inhibitors in HR-positive/HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer
7-gene biosignature: Benefits of endocrine therapy and radiotherapy in breast cancer risk groups

Diagnostic mammogram accuracy varies across racial/ethnic groups
Lumpectomy on par with mastectomy for some young women
Positive lymph nodes not a reliable indicator for chemo in some women with breast cancer
Trastuzumab deruxtecan slashes disease progression, death by 72% in HER-2+ breast cancer
Mammograms may provide clues to heart-disease risk in older women
Breast, cervical screening suboptimal in transgender individuals
Adding ribociclib to letrozole boosts survival in some with advanced breast cancer

DNA damage repair may be key to higher breast cancer mortality in Black women
Pyrotinib plus capecitabine promising for HER2-positive breast cancer brain metastases
Pembrolizumab logs 37% improvement in event-free survival in triple-negative breast cancer
CECR2 protein pinpointed as driver of breast cancer metastases
Breast cancer subtypes vary by gene, affecting risk prediction, screening strategies
Olaparib is well tolerated as an additional treatment

Race effects the likelihood to develop lymphoedema following breast cancer treatment

Sentinel lymph node staging is non-inferior to complete axillary lymph node dissection
One in 7 breast cancers detected during screening are overdiagnosed

Using genomics to match treatments improves outcomes
How tamoxifen can induce uterine cancer
Loss of ASXL1 tumour suppressor promotes resistance to CDK4/6 inhibitors
Inducers of ferroptosis are potential drugs to target p53-mutated TNBC cells

MAPK-pathway alterations are associated with resistance to anti-HER2 therapy
Genomic signatures of DCIS define biology and correlate with clinical outcomes
BRCA2 linked to inferior outcomes with CDK4/6 inhibitors plus endocrine therapy
Datopotamab deruxtecan shows promising anti-tumour activity

Trastuzumab deruxtecan outperforms trastuzumab emtansine
Nivolumab plus ipilimumab serve promising dual checkpoint inhibition

Entinostat plus exemestane improves progression-free survival in Chinese patients
Efficacy of pyrotinib plus capecitabine confirmed in previously treated patients
Single-cell spatial analysis can predict response to neoadjuvant immunotherapy

Neoadjuvant pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy benefits event-free survival in TNBC
Early use of ctDNA testing can identify likelihood of relapse in TNBC

Pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy benefits patients with combined positive score ≥10

Neratinib plus trastuzumab plus fulvestrant shows encouraging clinical activity
Addition of palbociclib to standard endocrine therapy does not improve outcome in adjuvant treatment

The SERD elacestrant improves outcomes for patients unresponsive to endocrine therapy
Consistent overall survival benefit of ribociclib in advanced breast cancer
Premenopausal women benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy next to endocrine therapy
Promising anti-tumour activity of the CDK7-inhibitor samuraciclib plus fulvestrant

ctDNA is prognostic and predictive for response to ribociclib plus letrozole
Early switch to fulvestrant plus palbociclib beneficial for patients with ESR1 mutation

Aromatase inhibitors outperform tamoxifen in premenopausal women

Concurrent taxane plus anthracycline most beneficial in reducing risk of breast cancer
Reduced risk of recurrence with ovarian suppression plus tamoxifen/exemestane
Metformin does not improve outcomes in patients with early-stage breast cancer
Omitting sentinel lymph node biopsy improves arm symptoms

GnRHa therapy protects the ovaries of young women with breast cancer having chemo
NOS inhibitor plus taxane promising for resistant triple negative breast cancer
Pyrotinib plus chemo may improve outcomes in pretreated HER2-positive breast cancer
Tumor biology more important than race in predicting treatment response in breast cancer
Breast-cancer patients with estrogen-receptor mutation may benefit from early treatment change
Matching breast-cancer treatments to high-value genomic alterations leads to better outcomes
Elacestrant could become new standard of care for some breast-cancer patients
Long-term safety of GnRHa affirmed in premenopausal women undergoing chemo for breast cancer

Trastuzumab deruxtecan triples PFS
Novel conjugate meets primary endpoint
Longest survival benefit from first-line CDK4/6 inhibitor
Meta-analysis shows 6-months adjuvant trastuzumab is optimal

BrighTNess data may change guidelines
Double-positive results for triple-negative metastatic breast cancer
Survival after neoadjuvant therapy with trastuzumab-lapatinib plus chemotherapy
Postmenopausal breast cancer: extended letrozole reduces recurrence
Asian women also benefit from palbociclib plus letrozole
No PEARLs of survival with palbociclib plus endocrine therapy compared with capecitabine, but QoL better
Women with breast cancer at increased risk for developing atrial fibrillation
Patients with advanced breast cancer denied opportunities to join clinical trials
Acellular dermal matrix not tied to fewer reoperations after breast reconstruction
Eating nuts linked to lower risk of recurrence and death among breast-cancer survivors

Second-line trastuzumab deruxtecan for metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer: Interview with Javier Cortés
Chronic stress hard on women with breast cancer

ESMO 2021 Highlights Podcast
Poor representation in breast-cancer clinical trials tied to real-world harms
Young women who receive left-sided radiation for breast cancer at higher risk for heart disease
Value of carboplatin added to neoadjuvant chemo in triple-negative breast cancer confirmed
Increased breast cancer risk in women with schizophrenia taking certain antipsychotics
In women with breast or ovarian cancer, pathogenic gene variants linked with increased survival
Trastuzumab associated with cardiotoxicity in breast cancer
Breast cancer screening at 40 aids childhood cancer survivors treated without chest radiation

Excellent prognosis for breast cancer patients with ultra-low-risk gene signature

Olaparib benefits early breast cancer patients with BRCA1/2 germline mutation
Platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy in TNBC is not superior or non-inferior to capecitabine
Dalpiciclib benefits patients with HR-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer

Trastuzumab-deruxtecan showed clinical activity in patients with brain metastases
Novel compound shows promise in lab studies for resistant triple negative breast cancer

Adding neoadjuvant anastrozole to trastuzumab deruxtecan in HER2-low breast cancer

Adjuvant olaparib extends disease-free survival in BRCA carriers

Preventing interstitial lung disease in patients on trastuzumab detruxtecan

T-DXd response on brain metastases in HER2+ breast cancer patients

T-DXd Combinations in HER2-positive Metastatic Breast Cancer
Adding 3 extra years of hormone therapy shows no benefit in breast cancer study
Tumor size, grade tied to long-term survival in selected breast cancer patients
No benefit to routine use of platinum agents after neoadjuvant chemo in triple-negative breast cancer
Prevalence of breast-cancer-susceptibility genes similar in Black and white women
Should the recurrence score for downstaging breast cancer be expanded?
Some patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer might not need chemo
Olaparib cuts odds of invasive disease, death by 42% in some breast cancers
Practicing-changing results for some early-stage BRCA-mutated breast cancers
More breast-cancer patients using complementary medicine than their oncologists realize
Interstitial lung disease a ‘manageable’ side effect of trastuzumab deruxtecan
Primary and recurrent breast tumors may have different HER2 status
Cryoablation may be a promising alternative to surgery for low-risk breast cancer
Breast-cancer survivorship rarely easy, even with early-stage, low-risk disease
Patients on hormonal therapies for cancer should be monitored for heart risk – AHA

SABCS 2020: Updated monarchE trial shows abemaciclib continues to benefit patients with high-risk, HR-positive, HER2-negative, early-stage breast cancer

SABCS 2020: Update from the DESTINY-Breast01 trial

How to avoid chemotherapy overtreatment in breast cancer

SABCS 2020: Adding nivolumab to trastuzumab deruxtecan is well tolerated
Follow-up supports MammaPrint to guide chemo decisions, points to an ‘age effect’
Four healthy eating patterns tied to lower mortality in women with breast cancer
Neoadjuvant chemo may top endocrine therapy in strongly HR-positive, ERBB2-negative breast cancer
Should breast density at age 40 guide mammography screening strategy?
New tool helps predict chemotherapy toxicity in older women with early breast cancer
Could statins protect the heart from breast-cancer chemotherapy?
MRI-based nomograms may predict lymph node metastasis, survival in early breast cancer
Circulating-tumor-cell dynamics have prognostic value in metastatic breast cancer
Breast radiotherapy symptoms often under-recognized by providers
Mastectomy may raise risk of persistent use of opioids, sedative-hypnotics
Trade-offs to skipping radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery in older women
Some older women with common breast cancer can skip adjuvant chemo
Fertility preservation tied to better reproductive outcomes after breast cancer

Study helps gauge long-term risks for women with DCIS by treatment
Benign breast disease detected after baseline mammogram most apt to become cancer
Genetic test spots high-risk invasive lobular carcinoma

Advanced breast cancer: locoregional therapy does not improve OS

T-DM1 does not improve safety or efficacy in HER-2 positive early breast cancer; favorable iDFS reported
Combination pembrolizumab/chemo improves PFS in metastatic TNBC
Effect of veliparib with or without cisplatin in breast cancer: results of SWOG S1416
PHOEBE, a phase 3 trial comparing pyrotinib and lapatinib in HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer
BYLieve demonstrates efficacy of PIK3CA-directed treatment post CDK4/6-ihibition

Strategies emerge for chemotherapy de-escalation in HER2-positive breast cancer

No higher pathologic complete response with atezolizumab added to chemotherapy

Anastrozole yields long term effects in the prevention of breast cancer occurrence

Positive effects of adding pertuzumab to trastuzumab + chemotherapy in operable HER2 breast cancer

High rates of ROR-low disease with chemotherapy-free regimen in HR+/HER2- patients

Neoadjuvant + adjuvant pembrolizumab improves pCR in triple-negative breast cancer with lymph node involvement
HER2 antibody-drug conjugate T-DXd promising in T-DM1 pretreated patients
Partial breast irradiation could be as effective as whole breast irradiation

Subcutaneous pertuzumab + trastuzumab non-inferior to the IV combination
Palbociclib not statistically superior to capecitabine in PFS
Circulating tumour DNA may help predict recurrence in patients with early triple-negative breast cancer
Clinical benefit over trastuzumab for margetuximab in HER2 breast cancer
Tamoxifen monotherapy may mean undertreatment for some luminal breast cancer patients
Triple negative breast cancer gets positive news: KEYNOTE-522 interim results
CDK4/6 inhibitors change landscape of breast cancer treatment: 2 studies

Veliparib-chemo combo prolongs survival without disease progression in some advanced breast cancer patients

Endocrine therapy plus ribociclib yields overall survival advantage in HR+/HER2-negative breast cancer
Biomarker analysis predicts response to adjuvant trastuzumab, pertuzumab in HER2+ breast cancer
ImPassion130 brings breast cancer into the immunotherapy era
Discordance of biomarkers in multifocal and lymph node positive breast cancer
Extrapolating data from clinical trials as we treat patients in real life
