San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium Research Articles

Triple-negative breast cancer: new options for systemic targeted therapy. A review

Background. In 15-20% of patients, breast cancer is characterized by the absence or negligible expression in malignant cells of molecular therapeutic receptor targets of three key types: estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (triple negative breast cancer TNBC). At the 2021 conferences of the American and European Societies of Clinical Oncology (ASCO and ESMO) and the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), held from December 7 to 10, important advances in new approaches to the treatment of heterogeneous TNBC cohort were announced.
 Aim. To find and summarize the most striking results of clinical studies on new treatment options for TNBC patients based on the SABCS 2021.
 Materials and methods. We searched the databases of the digital medical education platform MEDtalks (Hilversum, The Netherlands) and the PubMed/Medline database and analyzed the results published in 2021-2022.
 Results. We systematized some results of clinical studies on drug therapy in patients with TNBC, discussed at SABCS 2021 (December 7-10, San Antonio, USA). There are now promising results from innovative clinical studies worldwide to identify the optimal approach to the selection of differentiated targeted and immunotherapies for the treatment of TNBC patients: OlympiA, KEYNOTE-522, cTRAK TN Phase II, KEYNOTE-355, NIMBUS, TROPION Phase I study.
 Conclusion. Considering the molecular and histological heterogeneity of TNBC, it is reasonable to identify subgroups of patients with some quantitative and qualitative clinical characteristics for further identification of effective personalized treatment regimens. Additional clinical studies and multivariate analysis of data in the subgroups of patients with TNBC, as well as individualized treatment cases, using current methodological tools will contribute to solving the issues in the management of this category of patients.

2021 Update on Systemic Therapy for Breast Cancer

Over the past years, new systemic therapies for advanced and metastatic breast cancer have emerged, resulting in significantly improved survival outcomes in this patient population. This article provides a summary of selected clinically relevant studies presented at the 2021 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress, American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting and San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), including updated results from pivotal trials and new data on emerging therapies.

SABCS 2021 Insights on Breast Cancer Research: An Interview with Dr. Laura Spring.

Laura Spring, MD, a clinical investigator and breast medical oncologist at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and Harvard Medical School, shared insights on breast cancer research presented at the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS).

Fertility and breast cancer: A literature review of counseling, preservation options and outcomes.

Fertility preservation is an important issue in breast cancer patients undergoing oncological treatment. Fertility counseling is a crucial need given the physical and psychological stress experienced by patients. Cryopreservation of mature oocytes is currently the standard fertility-preserving procedure. Other options such as ovarian tissue preservation or gonadal protection during chemotherapy are still experimental, but have proven effectiveness. Prompt referral to a fertility unit is highly recommended in order to ensure quality of care. In this article, we focus on the different strategies to preserve fertility in breast cancer patients, assessing also the safety of pregnancy and breastfeeding after cancer. A systemic literature review was performed for research articles published in English in PubMed, or as abstracts from the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) and American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meetings, using the search terms "breast cancer" and "fertility".

SABCS 2020: update on triple-negative and metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer.

One year into the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) was another large congress held in a virtual format. Despite these circumstances, clinically relevant data were presented, and this short review focuses on developments in the fields of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer. A quality-of-life (QoL) analysis from IMPassion031 showed that adding atezolizumab to neoadjuvant chemotherapy was not associated with a detrimental effect on QoL, while the burden of treatment-induced side effects increased with each cycle of neoadjuvant therapy in both treatment arms. KEYNOTE-355 evaluated the addition of pembrolizumab to chemotherapy as first-line treatment in metastatic TNBC (mTNBC); a significant improvement of progression-free survival (PFS) was reported in the pembrolizumab arm. At the 2020 SABCS, results with respect to different chemotherapy backbones were reported and the benefit of pembrolizumab was maintained irrespective of the type of taxane. Disappointingly, the phase III IPATunity130 study could not confirm a PFS improvement with the AKT inhibitor ipatasertib when added to paclitaxel as first-line treatment in mTNBC. A biomarker analysis from the phase III ASCENT study showed that the antibody–drug conjugate sacituzumab govitecan was superior to chemotherapy by investigator’s choice independent of Trop‑2 expression and BRCA mutation status. In HER2-positive breast cancer, the PRECIOUS trial suggested a small albeit significant benefit with reinduction of pertuzumab in later treatment lines in patients progressing on prior dual HER2-blockade in the first- or second-line setting. The HER2-specific tyrosine kinase inhibitor tucatinib when added to trastuzumab and capecitabine was shown to improve PFS and overall survival (OS) over trastuzumab and capecitabine alone in pretreated patients in the randomized HER2CLIMB trial; this benefit was apparently independent of hormone-receptor expression. An update from the DESTINY-Breast01 trial reported a median PFS of 19.4 months with trastuzumab deruxtecan in heavily pretreated patients. Finally, an analysis from the PERTAIN trial with > 6 years median follow-up showed excellent OS in patients with luminal B/HER2-positive receiving first-line trastuzumab/pertuzumab in combination with endocrine therapy suggesting that chemotherapy-free treatment is an option in highly selected patients.

Perspectives on Geriatric Oncology Research Presented at the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium

The 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) united healthcare professionals and researchers from all over the globe to showcase the cutting-edge in breast cancer research. Many advancements were virtually presented at this year's symposium, and we here feature research relevant to geriatric oncology.

Optimum duration of adjuvant trastuzumab in treatment of human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 positive early breast cancer: protocol for a network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

IntroductionControversy regarding optimum duration of trastuzumab treatment remains in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) positive early breast cancer. The objective of applying network meta-analysis (NMA) is to...

Highlights of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium 2019 Part 2: the challenges of tumor heterogeneity.

The 42nd annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) was convened in San Antonio Texas on December 10 – 14, 2019. More than 7000 clinicians and scientists from around the world participated in the symposium which featured a range of presentations and keynote talks pertaining to breast cancer screening, prevention, loco-regional and systemic therapies. This two-part report highlights a selection of important studies presented at this premier breast cancer event with the second part discussing a range of topics including extended hormonal therapy, capecitabine for partial responders after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT), anti-HER2 therapies and immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibitors.

Highlights of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium 2019 Part 1: the challenges of tumor heterogeneity.

The 42nd annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) was convened in San Antonio Texas on December 10 – 14, 2019. More than 7000 clinicians and scientists from around the world participated in the symposium that featured presentations and keynote talks pertaining to epidemiology and biology, screening/prevention, loco-regional treatment together with systemic therapies for early and late stage disease. This two-part report highlights a selection of important studies presented at this premier breast cancer event with the first part focusing on stromal-epithelial interactions, long term outcomes of hormone replacement therapy, androgen receptor targeting, high risk MRI screening and whether breast surgery can be safely omitted in exceptional responders after neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Treatment options in early triple-negative breast cancer

SummaryWith a main focus on the early stage triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), new data on immunotherapy in combination with chemotherapy, the role of capecitabine, the potential of circulating tumor DNA as a predictive tool in the postneoadjuvant setting and new treatment approaches were presented and discussed at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) 2019.

Perspectives on geriatric oncology research presented at the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium

The 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) brought together an international audience of researchers and healthcare professionals to discuss the latest in breast cancer research. This year we saw much progress with practice-changing trials that could mean better treatment for patients with breast cancer. Here, we highlight research which we consider having the highest relevance to Geriatric Oncology.

Triple-negative breast cancer-Role of immunology: A systemic review.

Recently, the complex role of immune therapy has been the target of increased attention in breast cancer, particularly in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Although TNBC is sensitive to chemotherapy, the recurrence and mortality rates are worse compared with the other breast cancer types. In addition, TNBC still lacks targeted treatment options. With the improved understanding of the immune system in TNBC, it is expected that new predictive and prognostic markers will be identified, and innovative treatment modalities will be developed. The aim of this review was to provide an overview of the effector cells in the TNBC's microenvironment and to highlight a novel approach to treat this kind of cancer. A computer-based literature research was carried out using PubMed, American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting (ASCO) and San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS). To date, studies have shown that tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) play a very important role in the TNBC's microenvironment. Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes can even be considered as biomarkers to predict chemotherapy response in TNBC. Furthermore, TNBC was shown to have immune active subtypes, and therefore, the use of immunotherapy may be an attractive treatment approach. In this respect, several randomized studies have been designed or are currently ongoing to explore the combination of chemotherapy with immunotherapy in TNBC. Combination of chemo- and immunotherapy is likely to be beneficial in a subgroup of patients with TNBC.

Systemic treatment of metastatic breast cancer: SABCS 2018

This review summarizes clinically relevant trials in metastatic breast cancer (MBC) presented at the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS). At the meeting updates of two large phase III studies were presented: (1) the biomarker analysis of IMpassion130, trying to define the target population for the checkpoint inhibitor atezolizumab in triple-negative MBC and (2) a subgroup analysis of SOLAR-1, where the efficacy and safety of the alpha-specific Phosphoinositide 3(PI3)-kinase inhibitor alpelisib in combination with fulvestrant was investigated in patients with hormone receptor positive (HR+), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative (HER2−) MBC. Furthermore, we review the results of a randomized phase II trial (CCTG MA38) comparing a continuous daily dosing of palbociclib to the standard treatment dose, and the phase 1b data of the B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL-2) inhibitor venetoclax in combination with tamoxifen as a novel drug combination in patients with HR+/HER2−MBC.

SABCS 2017: lifestyle factors, hormone receptor-positive advanced disease, liquid biopsies, and prognosis.

SummaryThis article reviews the clinically most relevant presentations at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) 2017 on the topics lifestyle factors, hormone receptor-positive advanced disease, liquid biopsies, and prognosis.In a retrospective analysis of the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study, a reduction in the body mass index (BMI) of at least 5% within 3 years significantly reduced the risk of breast cancer compared to women with a stable weight (HR 0.77; 95% CI 0.78–0.98). In the MONALEESA-7 trial investigating ribociclib or placebo in combination with endocrine therapy as first-line treatment in pre- and perimenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2)-negative metastatic breast cancer, a significantly longer progression-free survival was shown for patients treated with ribociclib compared to the placebo group (23.8 vs. 13.0 months; HR 0.55; 95% CI 0.43–0.72; P < 0.001). In a pooled toxicity and efficacy analysis of elderly women treated with a cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 (CDK4/6) inhibitor in combination with an aromatase inhibitor in first-line, toxicities of higher grade were more common in elderly compared to younger patients, despite comparable efficacy. And the Clinical Treatment Score post-5 years (CTS5), accurately estimated the risk of late recurrence after 5 years of adjuvant endocrine treatment using routinely available clinical parameters.

SABCS 2017: update on chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy.

SummaryIn the areas of chemotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy, several interesting and clinically relevant data were presented at the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS). This short review focuses on dose-dense and/or sequential administration of adjuvant chemotherapy, provides an update on targeted therapies for HER2-positive and triple-negative breast cancer and summarizes new results in the field of immunotherapy.

Surgical Highlights from the 40th San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 5-9 December 2017, San Antonio, Texas.

This year San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) celebrated its 40th anniversary. As in the past years, this year's conference was held in Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Centre, San Antonio, Texas, on 5-9 December 2017. The conference highlighted many different topic on breast cancer including basic science, translational research, local therapies, systemic therapies, survivorship, early clinical trials, and surgical topics. Even though SABCS evolved towards basic science and systemic therapy based manner in recent years, there were some important topics about local therapies and surgical approach. In this conference report, presentations and keynote talks about surgical field and local therapies will be summarised.

Breast cancer in pregnant patients: A review of the literature.

Breast cancer diagnosed during pregnancy is a rare occurrence at present; however, in recent years a trend towards delayed childbirth is generating an increase in its incidence. This situation requires a multidisciplinary approach involving obstetricians, oncologists and surgeons. In this review we analyse diagnostic methods, different possible treatments and long-term patient prognosis. We conducted a search for articles published in PubMed, or in abstract form from the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting, using the search terms: "Breast cancer and pregnancy". Breast cancer occurring during pregnancy requires extra effort to offer patients the best multidisciplinary management. There is no difference in the pathology-based classification, but breast cancer during pregnancy seems to be associated with different patterns of gene expression. Chemotherapy and surgery are generally safe and well-tolerated by patients during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. The poorer prognosis could be attributed mainly to a delay in diagnosis and because breast cancer in young patients is a more aggressive disease. Finally, balancing the health of mother and child must be paramount.

The impact of surgical excision of the primary tumor in stage IV breast cancer on survival: a meta-analysis.

IntroductionApproximately 5% of primary breast cancer patients present de novo stage IV breast cancer, for whom systematic therapy is the mainstream treatment. The role of surgical excision of the primary tumor has been controversial due to inconsistent results of relevant studies. Recently, with the reports of some relevant preclinical data, retrospective studies and randomized clinical trials, we've got more evidence to reexamine the issue. Based on those above, a literature review and meta-analysis was performed to determine whether surgery of the primary tumor could improve overall survival in the setting of stage IV breast cancer.Materials and MethodsA comprehensive search of PubMed, OVID, American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) symposium documents, European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) symposium documents and San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) symposium documents was performed to identify published literature that evaluated survival benefits from excision of the primary tumor in the setting of stage IV breast cancer. Data were extracted in review of appropriate studies by the authors independently. The primary endpoint was overall survival following surgical removal of the primary tumor. Secondary endpoints were the impacts of surgery on progression free survival (PFS) and time to progression (TTP).ResultsData from 19 retrospective studies showed a pooled hazard ratio of 0.65 (95% confidence interval (95% CI), 0.60-0.71, P < 0.01= for overall survival (OS), indicating a 35% reduction in risk of mortality in patients who underwent surgical excision of the primary tumor. Nevertheless, the analysis of 3 randomized clinical trials revealed a pooled hazard ratio of 0.85 (95% CI, 0.59–1.21, P = 0.359) for OS in the surgical group. According to the meta-regression, the survival benefit was independent of age, tumor size, site of the metastases, and PR or HER-2 status, acceptance of systematic therapies and radiotherapy and inversely correlated with the ER+ status of the population included.ConclusionsThis is the first meta-analysis that includes both retrospective and prospective studies regarding the impact of surgery of the primary tumor on survival in stage IV breast cancer patients. According to the analytical results, we do not recommend surgery of the primary tumor as routine therapy for stage IV breast cancer. However, for those who are supposed to have long life expectancy, physicians could discuss it with these patients, put forward surgery as a therapy choice and perform the operation under deliberation.

Highlights of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium 2016: Part 2.

The 39th annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) was convened in San Antonio, Texas, on 9-13 December 2016. More than 7000 clinicians and scientists from around the world participated in the symposium which featured a range of presentations and keynote talks pertaining to breast cancer screening, prevention, locoregional and systemic therapies. This two-part report highlights a selection of important studies presented at this premier breast cancer event with Part 1 focusing onmetastatic breast cancer, extended endocrine therapy and the prognostic significance of BRCA1/2 gene mutations. The second part of this report will discuss a range of topics including anti-HER2 directed treatments, the impact of radiotherapy on implant and autologous flap based reconstruction, biological risk predictors for ductal carcinoma-in situ (DCIS), longer term effects of dietary fat modification and the influence of aromatase inhibitors on endothelial cell function.

Highlights of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium 2016.

The 39th annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) was convened in San Antonio, Texas, on 9-13 December 2016. More than 7000 clinicians and scientists from around the world participated in the symposium which featured a range of presentations and keynote talks pertaining to breast cancer screening, prevention, locoregional and systemic therapies. This two-part report highlights a selection of important studies presented at this premier breast cancer event with Part 1 focusing onmetastatic breast cancer, extended endocrine therapy and the prognostic significance of BRCA1/2 gene mutations. The second part of this report will discuss a range of topics including anti-HER2 directed treatments, the impact of radiotherapy on implant and autologous flap based reconstruction, biological risk predictors for ductal carcinoma-in situ (DCIS), longer term effects of dietary fat modification and the influence of aromatase inhibitors on endothelial cell function.