Breaking Research News from sources other than Breastcancer.org
Comments
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Olma,
Really interesting idea. As with a lot of these great ideas, though, it's not ready for prime time (although a lot of us are!)
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Olma61 - interesting idea, waking up cold tumors so that immunotherapy can neutralize them. Kind of scary too, given how hard it is to really treat cancer effectively.
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Exercise and bone loss. Interesting article on exercise/bone loss in premenopause vs menopause. I wonder if post menopause needs to do more or different exercise to achieve same benefit. Also, which drugs were patients using? I still plan on exercising!! Trying to figure out how to get full article. https://www.practiceupdate.com/journalscan/73090/2/1?elsca1=emc_enews_daily-digest&elsca2=email&elsca3=practiceupdate_onc&elsca4=oncology&elsca5=newsletter&rid=NDg2NTE3NjI4ODEyS0&lid=10332481
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Stereotactic Radiosurgery in Combination With Anti-HER2 Therapy for HER2+ Breast Cancer Brain Metastases
September 14, 2020
Interview with Rupesh R. Kotecha MD8:20 run time. Transcript is also available. {Particularly interesting mention of radiosurgery and concurrent HER2-directed therapy.} https://www.practiceupdate.com/c/102793/67/13/?els...
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A Novel Staging System for De Novo Metastatic Breast Cancer Refines Prognostic Estimates
Published in Metastatic Breast Cancer - September 17, 2020 (also cited as July 09, 2020)
- In this study of 16,187 patients with de novo metastatic breast cancer selected from the National Cancer Database (2010–2013), the authors sought to identify prognostic groups using anatomic and biologic factors. Of these patients, 65.2% had a single metastatic site and 42.9% had bone-only metastases. The number of metastatic sites (1 vs >1) and ER status were used as stratification points, along with HER2 and PR status, cT stage, tumor grade, and presence of bone-only metastases. Significant differences in 3-year overall survival were observed among the three groups (stage IVB vs IVA and stage IVC vs IVA).
- These results support the stratification of patients with de novo metastatic breast cancer into three prognostic groups.
https://www.practiceupdate.com/c/104220/67/13/?els...
https://journals.lww.com/annalsofsurgery/Abstract/...
doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000004231
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Aaa, dear Lumpie, it would be interesting to get whole article... Not very clear who falls into stage A, B or C:/ Saulius
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I agree Saulius, Sounds so interesting I am tempted to buy access.
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Oh, I would be so broke if I had to do pay for papers!
Sci-Hub is the link to get access to PubMed behind the paywall; there are many copies of this site out there
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/04/whos-downl...
You find and copy the doi number of the paper and paste it into the site, it will be retrieved
Having said that, I tried it just now and the system hung on me.. not sure if its the site or the journal, Annals of Surgery is going to be a pretty rare request In general the site works like a charm, this is the first time I had trouble
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thanks for this tip, Cure-ious
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Aaa, thanks Cureious, site hangs for me too:/ I am using Firefox... will try other browsers later:) Saulius
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Verzenio [reduces risk of] Recurrence and Metastasis of Early Breast Cancer
For people with high-risk HR-positive/HER2-negative early breast cancer, the oral medication Verzenio (abemaciclib) reduced the likelihood of recurrence by 25% when combined with adjuvant (post-surgery) hormone therapy, researchers reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology's ESMO Virtual Congress 2020 and in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
If approved for this indication, Verzenio has the potential to set a new standard of care, according to lead study investigator Stephen Johnston, MD, PhD, a professor of breast cancer medicine at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust in London. It is "potentially one of the most notable treatment advances in the last two decades for this population of breast cancer patients," he said in a press release...
Between July 2017 and August 2019, Johnston and colleagues recruited 5,637 people with high-risk HR-positive/HR-negative early breast cancer from 38 countries for a Phase III study known as MonarchE...
At the two-year mark, 7.8% of the participants taking Verzenio had experienced a recurrence compared with 11.3% of the participants not taking Verzenio—a 25% reduction in risk.
Verzenio plus hormone therapy also improved distant relapse-free survival, a measure of the time to metastasis to another part of the body. At the two-year mark, 6.4% of the participants taking Verzenio and 9.7% of the participants not taking the drug had experienced metastasis—a 28% risk reduction...
Even though the study has not yet been completed—final results are projected for delivery in June 2027—Giuseppe Curigliano, MD, PhD, the chair of ESMO's guidelines committee, is optimistic. "This is a very important trial, and the findings will change practice," he said in an ESMO press release.
https://www.cancerhealth.com/article/verzenio-prev...
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Gut Microbiota May Influence pCR in Early-Stage Breast Cancer
A study out of Scotland, to be presented at this year's virtual European Breast Cancer Conference in October, has linked levels of 2 short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in female patients with early-stage breast cancer to pathological complete response (pCR) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT), according to the abstract released today.
The 2 SCFAs are propionate and butyrate, and they were shown to be lower in the gut bacteria of patients achieving pCR compared with those not achieving pCR after surgery.
"In this study we have started to look at whether the function of the gut microbiome could be one factor that influences the effectiveness of chemotherapy," said Kirsty Ross, MBChB, MSc, a specialist registrar in medical oncology at the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre, Glasgow, United Kingdom.
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Palbociclib and Trastuzumab in {HR+}, HER2-Positive Advanced Breast Cancer
September 27, 2020 Clinical Cancer Research
- The phase II PATRICIA study was designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of palbociclib plus trastuzumab in postmenopausal women with HR+/HER2+ advanced breast cancer. The median progression-free survival was 10.6 months in patients with luminal B tumors, 8.2 months in patients with luminal A tumors, 4.3 months in those with HER2-enriched breast cancers, and 3.7 months in women with normal-like tumors.
- The combination of palbociclib and trastuzumab is safe and relatively effective in patients with HR+/HER2+ advanced breast cancer who have progressed on prior treatment. Additional studies are enrolling to test the combination of palbociclib, trastuzumab, and endocrine therapy for superiority over treatment of choice.
DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-20-08440 -
Trastuzumab With or Without Chemotherapy for HER2-Positive Early Breast Cancer in Older Patients
September 24, 2020 Journal of Clinical Oncology
- Patients aged >70 years were randomized to receive trastuzumab monotherapy or trastuzumab plus chemotherapy following surgical management of HER2-positive early breast cancer. Although the 3-year disease-free survival noninferiority primary endpoint for trastuzumab monotherapy was not met, the shorter survival was less than half a month at 3 years. In addition, there was significantly less deterioration in health-related quality of life in the trastuzumab monotherapy group compared with the trastuzumab plus chemotherapy group.
- Trastuzumab plus chemotherapy should remain the standard of care; however, these results warrant reflection for older patients with contraindications or preference to avoid chemotherapy. Trastuzumab monotherapy may be reasonable for appropriately selected patients.
DOI: 10.1200/JCO.20.001840 -
Experimental Cancer Treatment Destroys Cancer Cells [in mice] Without Using Any Drugs
One of the latest methods pioneered by scientists to treat cancer uses a Trojan horse sneak attack to prompt cancer cells to self-destruct – all without using any drugs.
Key to the technique is the use of a nanoparticle coated in a specific amino acid called L-phenylalanine, one of several such acids that cancer cells rely on to grow. L-phenylalanine isn't made by the body, but absorbed from meat and dairy products.
In tests on mice, the nanoparticle – called Nano-pPAAM or Nanoscopic phenylalanine Porous Amino Acid Mimic – killed cancer cells specifically and effectively, posing as a friendly amino acid before causing the cells to destroy themselves.
The self-destruction mode is triggered as the nanoparticle puts production of certain chemicals known as reactive oxygen species (ROS) into overdrive. It's enough to bring down the cancer cells while leaving neighbouring, healthy cells intact...
Nano-pPAAM was shown to kill around 80 percent of breast, skin, and gastric cancer cells in mice, about on a par with current chemotherapy drugs (but without all the side effects of course). While dangerous to cancer cells, it's based on a silica nanoparticle classed as safe to humans by US food regulators.
https://www.sciencealert.com/a-new-cancer-treatmen...
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oh, that's interesting
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Predictive Analytics Detects Breast Cancer Spread with 90% Accuracy
September 28, 2020 - A predictive analytics method was able to detect with 90 percent accuracy which stage 0 breast cancers [DCIS] are likely to spread and recur, according to a study published in the American Journal of Physiology-Cell Physiology...
The team stained these tissue samples so that the proteins of interest would fluoresce under the microscope. Then, using a computer vision application, researchers created a library of microscope images associated with either aggressive or non-aggressive ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) based on what had happened to that patient.
Researchers then showed the program roughly 100 micrographs it hadn't seen before, known as holdout images, to see how well it could accurately predict whether that patient's cancer was likely to recur...
The program is now able to correctly identify aggressive and non-aggressive disease 96 percent of the time, the researchers noted.
"That's pretty impressive when you consider that a human looking at these images would get the answer right about 70 percent of the time," Petty said. "And we've continued to work on reducing the level of false negatives."
The tool also reported false positives in four percent of cases, meaning it identified aggressive disease in patients who did not experience recurrence.
https://healthitanalytics.com/news/predictive-anal...
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Advances in Lobular Breast Cancer Research
September 17, 2020
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Trastuzumab emtansine plus atezolizumab versus trastuzumab emtansine plus placebo in previously treated, HER2-positive advanced breast cancer (KATE2): a phase 2, multicentre, randomised, double-blind trial
The Lancet Oncology Volume 21, Issue 10, October 2020, Pages 1283-1295
HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer is incurable and new treatments are needed. Addition of atezolizumab to trastuzumab emtansine might potentiate anticancer immunity and enhance the HER2-targeted cytotoxic activity of trastuzumab emtansine. We aimed to test this combination in HER2-positive advanced breast cancer that had progressed after previous treatment with trastuzumab and a taxane.
Addition of atezolizumab to trastuzumab emtansine did not show a clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival and was associated with more adverse events. Further study of trastuzumab emtansine plus atezolizumab is warranted in a subpopulation of patients with PD-L1-positive, HER2-positive advanced breast cancer.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/...
https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(20)30465-4
{Abstract free; fee for full access unless you have access thru an academic/specialized library.}
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Ugh 2027?
Verenzio -Even though the study has not yet been completed—final results are projected for delivery in June 2027—Giuseppe Curigliano, MD, PhD, the chair of ESMO's guidelines committee, is optimistic. "This is a very important trial, and the findings will change practice," he said in an ESMO press release.
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2027 is a bummer, but when they are talking about preventing mets, they have to run the study long enough to see how it preforms over time. I am guessing 2027 is 10 years....?
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2027... Noone will need Verzenio in 2027 anymore after TILs, enhanced CAR-Ts, TCRs, bi/tri-specific antibodies, ADCs with bystander effect, etc. will come in. Giuseppe must be a funny guy...
Saulius
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FYI: Share will be hosting a program on:
Cannabis for Medical Disorders
Dr. Martinez, psychiatrist and a neuroscientist at Columbia University will discuss the research on cannabis for medical disorders, including risks of recreational cannabis use in medically ill patients. She will also discuss sources of cannabis plant extract for neuropathy and pain in cancer patients.
Thursday, 1-2pm ET
October 29https://www.sharecancersupport.org/cannabis-for-me...
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New research sheds light on why tumor cells become resistant to chemotherapy
One way therapy resistance occurs is through hypoxia, or low oxygen levels. Hypoxia can occur within a tumor because it grows much more quickly than the surrounding tissue...
They found that mTOR inhibitors did mimic hypoxia and resulted in the production of different versions of three messenger RNAs (mRNAs), information carriers the body uses to produce proteins from our genes. These different versions are especially suited to allow protein production in stressful cancer conditions such as hypoxia and chemotherapy, and the production of proteins from them leads to tumor progression...
According to the researchers, when an experimental drug called ISRIB that interferes with the reprogramming of protein production—like what is happening with the three mRNAs—was administered, tumor progression was halted.
The findings have led to further questions.
One of the next steps involves looking at whether compounds such as ISRIB—a drug that has been shown to mitigate many negative effects of cancer therapy—can be used to potentially help prevent metastasis and therapy resistance.
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Circulating Tumor DNA Analysis to Direct Therapy in Advanced Breast Cancer
- The Lancet Oncology September 29, 2020 The investigators evaluated the ability of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) to accurately guide mutation-directed therapy in women with advanced breast cancer. Testing was accurate (98% sensitivity with contemporaneous tissue biopsy sequencing), and treatment in the cohorts targeting HER2 and AKT mutations with neratinib and capivasertib, respectively, reached the targeted response rate.The authors concluded that ctDNA testing has sufficient validity for adoption in routine practice.
Commentary by Lee S. Schwartzberg MD, FACP... Perhaps most significantly, plasmaMATCH carefully analyzed the concordance rates between tissue biopsies and the ctDNA plasma samples for identification of genomic alterations. The sensitivity and specificity of targeted ctDNA samples were very high, >95%, when compared with contemporaneous tissue samples. Given the ease of obtaining blood samples for ctDNA analysis, these results support the use of liquid biopsy to screen for targetable alterations in all patients with MBC. The recent FDA approval of ctDNA panels as multiplex companion diagnostics provides a potentially reimbursable means for standard-of-care usage.https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/...(20)30444-7/fulltext{free access to press reporting (registration may be required) and to full article.}0 -
Counties with Persistent Poverty Rates Experience Higher Rates of Cancer Deaths
September 30, 2020
PHILADELPHIA – Residents of counties that experience persistent poverty face a disproportionately high risk of cancer mortality, according to a study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
"To prevent health disparities, we need tools, people, and systems to ensure that everyone in this country has access to the tools they need to thrive, including socioeconomic opportunities, equity, and respect, as well as prevention resources and health care services," Moss said.
"We need interventions in these communities to change cancer-causing behaviors, to make cancer screening more accessible, to improve treatment, and to promote quality of life and survivorship," she continued. "Efforts to reduce the risk of cancer in these counties will require strategic coordination, collaboration, and funding, with input from community members every step of the way."
https://www.aacr.org/about-the-aacr/newsroom/news-...
https://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/29/10/1949
https://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/29/10/1949
{Free access to reporting and abstract. Free for full article.}
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'I'd love to feel a hug': Kristen Dahlgren shares one of the hardest side effects of breast cancer
NBC's Kristen Dahlgren explores a treatment that may change the way she "feels" after breast cancer.Before breast cancer, I never realized that women who have mastectomies lose feeling in their chests. It makes sense, of course — since the nerves are cut during the surgery — but it's not something that is often talked about.
....a doctor in New York City ... is doing a procedure that could change the way women feel after a mastectomy. Dr. Constance Chen, MD, a reconstructive plastic surgeon, is one of a handful of surgeons who is reconnecting nerves as part of natural tissue or '"flap" reconstruction. ... It's similar to the grafts that have been used since 2007 in arms, legs and hands.
https://www.today.com/health/kristen-dahlgren-expl...
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Shannen Doherty Is Not Signing Off Just Yet
Fighting Stage IV breast cancer has forced some self-reflection, but the '90s icon and so-called diva refuses to slow down.
This story appears in the October 2020 issue of Elle magazine.
https://www.elle.com/culture/a34144792/shannen-doh...
{Press coverage of MBC. Creation of free account required to access full article.}
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debew do these hypoxia induced proteins help to cause "stemness" of C cells, I wonder? the buggers that re-seed? Interesting!
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Santa,
It looks like hypoxia (perhaps through the protein reprogramming mechanism they identified) induces a variety of C adaptations, including increased CSCs as well as plasticity and heterogeneity. If this mechanism is behind it all, hopefully the ISRIB drug will help.
Hypoxia and Regulation of Cancer Cell Stemness: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC40432...
Role of Hypoxic Stress in Regulating Tumor Immunogenicity, Resistance and Plasticity: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC62131...
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