Latest Breast Cancer updates from ASCO Annual Meeting 2020

The American Society of Clinical Oncology hosts meetings/premier scientific events every year for oncology professionals, patient advocates, industry representatives, and major media outlets worldwide. Different updates, new research, and research plans are discussed at length in these events. The best cancer doctors in Delhi and worldwide look forward to these discussions.

This year, ASCO’s meeting was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and researchers presented several studies that addressed the challenges of treating cancer along with the latest findings in cancer research. Here we’ll discuss the major highlights of the meeting regarding breast cancer, especially breast cancer treatment.

Breast cancer highlights from ASCO annual meeting 2020

Below we are listing the important highlights of the ASCO meeting according to top cancer specialists like Dr. Manish Singhal.

ECOG 2108 / E2108

Phase 3 trial E2108 was conducted to resolve conflicting data from earlier randomized studies and answered questions about whether surgery and radiation to the tumor in the breast (local therapy) will prolong survival compared to the traditional treatment of systemic treatment alone. It found that surgery and radiation after initial systemic therapy do not improve overall survival for women who first present with metastatic breast cancer.

PHOEBE

The results from the phase 3 PHOEBE trial were presented at the ASCO meeting and it showed combining pyrotinib instead of lapatinib with capecitabine is associated with significantly improved progression-free survival (PFS) in patients who have received prior treatment for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, show phase 3 trial data.

BYLieve

The combination of alpelisib and fulvestrant could be a promising option for patients with PIK3CA-mutated, hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer who have progressed on prior CDK4/6 inhibitor and aromatase inhibitor treatment, indicate trial data of the BYLieve study, according to top cancer specialists.

Bicalutamide in combination with palbociclib

This study is great news for cancer doctors and patients looking for improved breast cancer treatment because, finally there is some development in AR+ metastatic Triple Negative Breast Cancer as bicalutamide + palbociclib has shown activity in these patient subgroups with high unmet need.

In the phase III SANDPIPER trials, it was discovered that patients who have breast cancers with double PIK3CA mutations seem to have a more robust response to PI3Kα inhibitors than those with a single PIK3CA mutation, based on an analysis of the phase III SANDPIPER trial, which tested taselisib plus fulvestrant.

In the KAMILLA trial, researchers observed clinically meaningful antitumor activity in patients who had and had not undergone prior radiotherapy.

In another study presented at the ASCO meeting, the newly discovered three genetic changes that increase the risk of breast cancer in men were discussed.

Major updates for early stage breast cancer

The ASCO Virtual Meeting Breast cancer update is incomplete without an in-depth look at what the cancer specialists around the world are most excited about regarding early-stage breast cancer. So, here are the updates:

HER2-positive breast cancer

According to top cancer doctors, early breast cancer treatment in Delhi NCR or anywhere in India or the world, for HER2-positive breast cancer, is not only available but also regularly improving. So, despite it being an aggressive type of cancer, HER2-positive breast cancer is curable. However, patients remain at risk of recurrence and may suffer from side effects of treatment, although the standard treatment is effective.

In Asco’s meeting, two studies have shown promise in personalizing treatments.

The first one is a phase II TRAIN-2 study that compares two neoadjuvant chemotherapy regimens in patients with high-risk HER2-positive breast cancer. All patients receive dual HER2-targeted therapy with trastuzumab (Herceptin®) or pertuzumab (Perjeta®), and either anthracycline-based chemotherapy or non-anthracycline-containing chemotherapy. The final findings confirm that anthracyclines provide no added benefit—and indicate that many patients may be spared their potential toxicity.

The second one is the PHERGAIN study evaluating the use of positron emission tomography (PET) imaging during neoadjuvant therapy to monitor tumor response in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer. While the study is ongoing, the preliminary results suggest that PET imaging during neoadjuvant therapy may help identify patients who can forgo adjuvant chemotherapy.

ER-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer

For ER-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer too two studies were highlighted as most important by top cancer specialists.

In the first study, the researchers mused that although in patients with locally advanced ER-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, pre-surgical endocrine (hormone-directed) therapy reduces the need for chemotherapy and allows for less invasive breast-conserving surgery, the chances of pathological complete response are low.

However, the results from the TAILORx study proved that women with an Oncotype Dx Breast Recurrence Score® between 11 and 21, representing about 70 percent of early-stage ER-positive breast cancers, could safely forego chemotherapy.

In a similar study, MINDACT assessed the risk of recurrence by a different genomic assay (MammaPrint) and clinical tumor characteristics. After more than eight years of follow-up, it was reported that 95 percent of patients were free of distant metastasis at five years, affirming the clinical utility of MammaPrint as a prognostic test in high-risk breast cancer.

Major updates for metastatic breast cancer

Some of the best breast cancer treatment doctors in Delhi NCR and worldwide, like Dr. Manish Singhal, are extremely excited about some of the major updates about metastatic breast cancer highlighted in the ASCO meeting. Here are the updates:

Triple-negative breast cancer

The major study for this is the KEYNOTE-355 trial which compared pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy versus chemotherapy plus placebo as first-line therapy for patients with advanced triple-negative breast cancer. The investigators reported that women receiving pembrolizumab had improved survival rates compared to those with chemotherapy alone, particularly if their tumors had high amounts of the PD-L1 protein.

The final findings suggested a role for the addition of pembrolizumab to standard chemotherapy for the first-line treatment of metastatic TNBC.

HER2-positive breast cancer with brain metastasis

The HER2CLIMB trial, a randomized phase II study in patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer (including patients with brain metastases), compared standard therapy (trastuzumab/Herceptin®) plus chemotherapy (capecitabine) to standard therapy plus tucatinib (Tukysa®), a small molecule HER2 inhibitor, in patients who had progressed on one or more HER2-targeted treatments.

The results of the trial demonstrated a significant improvement in PFS and overall survival in patients who received tucatinib compared with placebo. This led to it receiving a fast-tracked FDA approval.

The final wordsThe updates on ASCO conference breast cancer 2020 are giving cancer specialists, and cancer patients hope for breast cancer treatment betterment. However, although we have listed a few major updates from the conference, if you want to get a better insight into it or learn about other breast cancer treatment updates in the world, you can get it from respected cancer doctors like Dr. Manish Singal, the best oncologist in Delhi. Diagnosis, treatment, or updates, nobody can help you with as in-depth cancer insights as an experienced cancer specialist.