Breaking Research News from sources other than Breastcancer.org
Comments
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Thanks for posting that, moth!
That is very important information.
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Personalized approach needed to manage {metastatic} breast cancer pain
An analysis of patterns of opioid use among 24,752 working-age women with metastatic breast cancer found that most who received an opioid prescription after diagnosis stopped opioids after a few months, but opioid prescriptions increased among a subgroup who could benefit from pain-management plans, based on data reported in Scientific Reports. Prior opioid use was predictive of prolonged use and higher opioid dosage.
Full Story: Healio (free registration)/HemOnc Today (2/20){Free access with registration to reporting; free access to full article. Blurb courtesey of AANP SmartBrief.}0 -
Armpit Swelling After COVID-19 Vaccine May Mimic Breast Cancer
Axillary adenopathy, or swelling under the armpit, has been reported by women after receiving the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, but it is also a common symptom for breast cancer.
...clinicians should consider recent COVID-19 vaccination history in the differential diagnosis of patients who present with unilateral axillary adenopathy, according to a new article.
In an article published in Clinical Imaging, Dodelzon and colleagues describe four cases involving women who received a COVID-19 vaccine and then sought breast screening. In describing these cases, the authors sought "to inform the medical community to consider this benign and self-resolving diagnosis in the setting of what can be alarming presentation of unilateral axillary adenopathy.
They hope they will decrease unnecessary biopsies and help reassure patients.
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/946448?src=mk...
{Free access to reporting. Registration may be required.}
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Wow, Lumpie, thanks... my wife will get the 2nd Pfizer/BioNTech dose on the 10th of March and will have her ultrasound on 25th... I'll try to write if something unusual will be reported. Thanks again, Saulius
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Interesting article out from the National Cancer Institute which says that the Oncotype DX test may be less accurate for African Americans than for White women (also commenting on the need for more diversity in all cancer trials.)
https://www.cancer.gov/news-events/cancer-currents...
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Here is an article on a topic Lumpie posted about 2/26 - about armpit swelling in women whose mammos closely follow administration of covid vaccines: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/2102...
"When women undergo breast imaging shortly after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine in the arm, their tests may show swollen lymph nodes in the armpit area. Radiologists say that this is usually a normal finding, and if there are no other concerns, no additional imaging tests are needed unless the lymph nodes remain swollen for more than six weeks after vaccination. The team has published an approach to help avoid delays in both vaccinations and breast cancer screening."
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jelson
Our local news anchor is a BC survivor herself and ran a story on the lymph node swelling issue. It featured a women who ended up getting a biopsy just to make sure the axillary node wasn’t cancer returning.
Glad to see the word get out on this vaccine SE.
Dee
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Disappointing results for pembrolizumab (Keytruda)
March 4, 2021 Lancet Oncology https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/...(20)30754-3/fulltext
'Pembrolizumab did not significantly improve overall survival in patients with previously treated metastatic triple-negative breast cancer versus chemotherapy.'
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Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and the second most common cause of cancer death in women in the USA. In the metastatic setting, despite available therapies, the majority of patients will die from their disease. Thus, new treatments are needed.
Clinical Development of New Antibody–Drug Conjugates in Breast Cancer: To Infinity and Beyond
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From Springer, all the CDK4/6 data utd compiled
"Do you want to view the latest CDK4/6 inhibitors trial data all summarised in one place? Read our independent clinical trial summary article which features inhibitor trial data, links to key efficacy and safety results and related news items."
https://ime.medicinematters.com/oncology/advanced-...
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Cognitive impairment tied to breast cancer treatment
A study published in Psycho-Oncology found that from 21% to 25% of patients with breast cancer experienced cognitive impairment during and after treatment. Researchers reviewed 17 studies involving 1,978 breast cancer patients and found chemotherapy appeared to play a more significant role in cognitive dysfunction than radiotherapy and endocrine therapy.
https://www.healio.com/news/primary-care/20210304/...
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pon.56...
https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.5623
{Blurb courtesy of AANP SmartBrief. Access to reporting free, may require registration. Access to full article appears to be free.}
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COVID Relief Bill Contains Lots of Healthcare Provisions
— Includes new incentives for states that haven't expanded Medicaid
For those (in the US) who rely on COBRA, ACA plans or Medicaid for health insurance coverage, this article provides a brief but helpful summary of how coverage is likely to be affected. This includes subsidies and relief from the high cost of coverage for many.
https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/cov...
{Free access but registration my be required.}
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The recent history of breast cancer in America with "Radical" author Kate Pickert
Interview with book author re history, treatment, evolution of treatment and advocacy around breast cancer. Coverage of early stage and MBC. Very interesting, worth a listen IMO.
https://www.lbbc.org/news-opinion/recent-history-b...
https://bookshop.org/books/radical-the-science-cul...
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Thanks for the link Lumpie.
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yes, this looks interesting and there’s an audio book which is great for me
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From the National Cancer Institute about the new FES PET test for estrogen positive cancers:
https://www.cancer.gov/news-events/cancer-currents...
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The Next Four Years: How Will Health Care Coverage Change?
By Jane Perkins and Leo Cuello via The American Bar Assocation
During the 2020 election campaign, voters repeatedly identified health care as a topic most important for the next administration to address. Candidate Joe Biden drew a sharp contrast to President Trump on health care and won the 2020 election. So, what can we expect over the next four years? We identify four health care issues that demand attention: controlling the COVID-19 pandemic, protecting Obamacare (also known as the Affordable Care Act and ACA), resuming the path toward expanded health care coverage, and addressing health inequity.
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/publicatio...
{Pertains to U.S. coverage. Access to affordable coverage is a huge issue for many of us, hence the posting. Free access to article, which is brief rather than exhaustive.}
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'An accelerated cauldron of evolution': Covid-19 patients with cancer, HIV, may play a role in emergence of variants
Some hospitalized patients with weakened immune systems were shown to have mutating viruses months before the variants were discovered in the outside world
March 11, 2021
{A case report} is one of about 15 similar ones involving immunocompromised patients and recently published in medical journals or preprint servers that have become an important puzzle piece for researchers seeking to understand the origins of the coronavirus variants taking over the world. Those reports lend support to an intriguing theory that some individuals with weakened immune systems due to cancer, HIV or other illnesses may act as incubators for new mutations — an idea bolstered by the astonishing fact that the B.1.1.7 variant, first recognized in the United Kingdom, and B. 1.351, from South Africa, were found in some hospitalized patients months before their discovery in the outside world.
"The evidence points to these immunocompromised patients as an accelerated cauldron of evolution," said David Pollock, a professor of genomics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
...the cases have triggered intense debate about how to best manage immunocompromised patients with the coronavirus — whether additional testing or sequencing should be more routine, different isolation procedures considered and alternate treatment protocols followed.
...One of the biggest questions facing doctors treating coronavirus patients with weakened immune systems is how the combination of therapies for SARS-CoV-2 and for cancer, or other underlying illnesses, affect viral mutation.
"I will tell you, to be completely honest, we don't know the best thing to do," Haidar said.
...One common thread among those reported to have prolonged covid-19 infections is a deficiency in what are known as B cells, which produce virus-attacking antibodies — a situation that may allow the virus to replicate with abandon.
According to preliminary findings posted March 2 while a paper is under peer review, Jennifer Dien Bard, who runs the virology lab at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, and her colleagues described seeing two patients with such a condition who kept returning to the hospital and who had persistently positive coronavirus tests with high viral loads.
...The evidence strongly suggests that a patient's inability to mount an immune response "plays a significant role in allowing the virus to really thrive and replicate," she said. Still, she noted, "these are two interesting cases among hundreds of other cases. The likelihood of this happening even to immunocompromised patients is rare and low."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/03/11/i...
{Article from Washington Post. Highlights, rather than the entire article, are included owing to length and copyright considerations. If you have questions, PM me. Note that patients discussed in this article had HIV, lymphoma, leukemia and potentially organ transplants. None was noted to be a breast cancer patient and specific chemotherapeutic regimens were not discussed in detail.}
Additional coverage of similar topic, primarily related to organ transplant patients, can be found here:
https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/vac...
{If anyone is aware of studies examining immune response to covid vaccines among those undergoing chemotherapy, I would love to hear about that!}
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Lumpie--this is for immunosuppressed--not those undergoing chemo. . but it looks like John Hopkins might be studying effect of virus on other vulnerable populations--so they may do something on those undergoing chemo:
https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/vaccines/91631
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Heads up triple neg peeps - our drugs might not be all that after all.
FDA to reconsider drugs which were given accelerated approval
atezolizumab (Tecentriq)+ Abraxane
"The agency previously granted the therapies accelerated approval, but confirmatory clinical trials assessing their continued effectiveness have since failed.
As a result, the FDA's Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee has scheduled a special three-day public hearing from April 27 to April 29 to allow patient testimony and expert commentary about the drugs in question. Once the meeting is completed, the committee will consider whether the approvals of the drugs... should be withdrawn and whether further study is needed." https://www.curetoday.com/view/fda-to-evaluate-sta...
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Moth,
I think the trip negative questioning only pertains to atelizomab, not keytruda. The additional research with keytruda is for very specific other cancers, per the article.
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ah, yes, BevJen, correct. I will update the post to correct
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Moth,
No worries. I am hyper fixated on keytruda bc that's what I'm on, so I scoured all of the reports on that.
I am surprised by the atezo, because my center was one of the testers of that. Plus, that's what you are on, correct? And you seem to be doing well on it.
Bev
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the atezo trial results have been all over the place. Atezo+abraxane seemed to have some good prelim results, atezo+ taxol was a dud in the trials (though there was some subgroup analysis that again showed some benefit for a subpopulation....but it was underpowered & not part of study design). Atazo + taxol is what I started on & have had good response - I think I've beat the median pfs. I think the more mature atezo+abraxane data might be coming this year.
some onco twitter chatter was that they were wondering if PD-L1 had to be a certain threshold (not just positive/negative) for it to work but I think also some think there's another mutation that it's targetting. There are a few good responders with durable response so ... fingers crossed that I'm one of the unicorns. I've technically had two oligoprogressions on it but my liver mets continue to slowly shrivel up - which apparently is classic immunotherapy response: slow to start, longer duration rather than wham/bam/tumor dead (& then resistance) that you get from effective chemo.
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Time to Revisit Distant Nodal Status in Breast Cancer Curability?
— Comparable survival for distant and regional nodal involvement, when treated similarly
by Charles Bankhead, Senior Editor, MedPage Today March 16, 2021
You may need to set up a free account to view the article.
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eribulin PLUS pembrolizumab for mTNBC phase 1b/2 reporting https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33727258/
higher ORR (34.5% ) and OS (21 mo) in PDL1+ 1L pts
there were a number of complete responses in the trial (Stratum 1 was 1st line); there were complete responses in stratum 2 as well (2nd or 3rd line tx)
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2019whatayear, that looks like an important article that relates to questions I have seen BCO members post, about whether contralateral node involvement makes them stage iv or not. I read it as saying that contralateral lymph node involvement should be treated with curative intent, as stage III or oligometastasis.
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Yes SP a lady I follow on Twitter posted it. Really interesting seems like in these cases if I was the patient I’d push for the aggressive curative intent
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As someone with Her2+ cancer, I have found the topic "Articles of Interest" on Her2Support.org helpful for research news too.
https://her2support.org/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?s=0224bf18cca3db2e508558a147904455&f=31
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