Breast Cancer

The bar for who should get genetic testing for breast cancer keeps getting lowered, and oncologists have to keep informed about which results should trigger a referral for germline testing, said Nadine Tung, MD, director, Cancer Risk and Prevention Program, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and associate professor, medicine, Harvard Medical School.

Using biomarker tests can help personalize care for women with ductal carcinoma in situ and determine the risks of using or not using radiation, said Eileen Rakovitch, MD, MSc, FRCPC, professor, department of radiation oncology, University of Toronto.

In 3 abstracts presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in San Antonio, Texas, patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and quality of life were measured for different therapeutic interventions aiming to either heighten tumor detection or ease chemotherapy-induced effects.

Results from the phase 2 DESTINY-Breast01 clinical trial show the novel efficacy of trastuzumab deruxtecan in providing durable benefit to heavily pretreated patients having undergone other HER2-targeted treatments.

Overall survival was shown to be greater but insignificant in patients administered pertuzumab compared with placebo, while subgroups of lymph node–positive and hormone receptor–negative patients were distinguished as major beneficiaries, according to the results of the second interim analysis of APHINITY presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in San Antonio, Texas.

With the ACA putting emphasis on preventive care, there has been an immediate increase in breast and coloreactal cancer screenings. A recent study found that incidence rates of early-stage breast and colorectal cancer increased in 2014, but did not vary for late-stage breast and colorectal cancer.

The FDA has approved the first 2D digital mammography system that lets patients adjust the level of compression applied to their breast during the imaging procedure.

Breast cancer screening may not improve in early medical home implementation.

Data released by the CDC today indicate that while breast cancer deaths are on the decline, black women still have worse outcomes than white women. The report also noted disparate trends in breast cancer incidence among different races and age groups.

What we’re reading, October 13, 2016: researchers, Alzheimer’s patients, and their families anxiously await the results of a clinical trial that could help slow the disease’s progress; many breast cancers detected by mammograms are overtreated even though they likely would not be fatal on their own; stock prices fall for Humana and Cigna as CMS says a minority of their patients are in plans rated 4 stars or higher.

The authors describe a quality improvement intervention that focuses on directly scheduling mammogram appointments for women who lack adherence despite written outreach letters.

This study tested 3 financial incentives encouraging breast cancer screening (mammograms) among women deemed overdue. None were effective overall; "person-centered" incentives worked in the most recently screened subgroup.

Despite ACA stipulations, patients with cancer may face new barriers to care as they shop for healthcare plans on the state and federal insurance exchanges.

Dramatic progress has been made in reducing colon cancer incidence and death rates in the U.S., but concerns remain about striking racial and socio-economic disparities, according to new national statistics on colorectal cancer.

Genetic counseling-including testing and risk assessment-is one of the most rapidly growing areas of oncology and has become the standard of care for patients with a personal and family history of breast, ovary, or colon cancer.

Karen Lewis, MS, MM, CGC, says the goals of Healthy People 2020 are developed by looking at a variety of key areas in healthcare, and then choosing the most actionable items to improve the overall health of the general population.

In a bid to improve treatment for men with high-risk prostate cancer, some researchers want to take a page from the playbook for breast cancer.

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