Posted by Sara Fazio • January 26th, 2012
In a new study from von Minckwitz et al, bevacizumab added to neoadjuvant combination chemotherapy increased the rate of pathological complete response among patients with HER-2-negative early-stage breast cancer. The effect was greatest in patients with the poorest prognosis, those with so-called triple-negative tumors. The efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, as measured by the rate of pathological… Read More…
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Posted by Rena Xu • January 25th, 2012
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently revoked its approval of the agent bevacizumab (also known as Avastin), a monoclonal antibody against vascular endothelial growth factor A, for treating metastatic breast cancer. Did they act too fast? According to Von Minckwitz et al., bevacizumab, when added to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, may offer considerable benefits for patients… Read More…
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Posted by Graham McMahon • October 5th, 2011
In a study from Slamon et al., trastuzumab added to a nonanthracycline regimen to treat HER2-positive breast cancer resulted in rates of disease-free and overall survival that were similar to those for an anthracycline-containing regimen, with lower rates of cardiac toxicity and secondary leukemia. The HER2 gene encodes a tyrosine kinase receptor that mediates critical… Read More…
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Posted by Graham McMahon • September 16th, 2011
The latest article in our Clinical Practice series reviews current recommendations for breast-cancer screening and thesupporting evidence, including the controversy regarding mammographic screening of women in their 40s. Worldwide, breast cancer is now the most common cancer diagnosed in women and is the leading cause of deaths from cancer among women, with approximately 1.3 million… Read More…
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Posted by Graham McMahon • June 10th, 2011
In this week’s Case Record of the Massachusetts General Hospital, a 49-year-old woman presented with a 12-cm mass in the right breast, fixed to the chest wall. The overlying skin was erythematous and edematous. A core-biopsy specimen showed infiltrating ductal carcinoma. Of all breast cancers, only 1 to 6% are classified as inflammatory breast cancer…. Read More…
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