Highlights from SABCS 2006

OncoLink at SABCS
OncoLink reporters provide in-depth coverage of scientific presentations from the 29^th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

A Sharp Decrease In Breast Cancer Incidence In The United States In 2003 Presenter: P. M. Ravdin Affiliation: M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX Background The incidence of breast cancer over time may reflect a differences in etiologic factors and screening practices. For example, after the wide-spread...
Axillary lymph node nanometastases are prognostic factors for metastatic relapse in breast cancer patients Presenter: S. Alberti Affiliation: University of Chieti, Chieti, Italy Background There is a wide range of outcomes after diagnosis and treatment for early stage breast cancer. The unexplained heterogeneity of outcomes may be a result of...
Benefit from exemestane (EXE) as extended adjuvant therapy after 5 years of tamoxifen (TAM): intent-to-treat analysis of NSABP B-33 Presenter: E. Mamounas Affiliation: NSABP Operations & Biostatistical Centers, Pittsburgh, PA Background For hormone receptor positive breast cancers, 5 years of adjuvant tamoxifen had been the standard. Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) were...
Combined Clinical Trial Results Of A HER2/Neu (E75) Vaccine For Prevention Of Recurrence In High-Risk Breast Cancer Patients Presenter: G. E. Peoples Affiliation: Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC Background Immunotherapy to treat cancer has been a popular idea for decades. Interferon therapy is FDA-approved and has been used in a variety of...
Five year results of Intergroup Study E5194: local excision alone (without radiation treatment) for selected patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) Presenter: L. Hughes Affiliation: Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Background Based on results of large randomized trials studying adjuvant treatment for excised ductal carcinoma in situ, adjuvant breast radiation is the gold standard to...
Fulvestrant versus exemestane following prior non-steroidal aromatase inhibitor therapy: first results from EFFECT, a randomized, phase III trial in postmenopausal women with advanced breast cancer Presenter: W. Gradishar Affiliation: Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University Background Recent trial results have shown that adjuvant first-line aromatase inhibitors give superior disease free survival...
Impact of radiation dose on local control, fibrosis and survival after breast conserving treatment: 10 years results of the EORTC trial 22881-10882 Presenter: H. Bartelink Affiliation: The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands Background After lumpectomy and whole breast irradiation, the tumor bed is a major site of recurrence Several trials, including this one,...
Lumpectomy plus tamoxifen with or without irradiation in women 70 years of age or older with early breast cancer: a report of further follow-up Presenter: K.S. Hughes Affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA Background After lumpectomy for early breast cancer, adjuvant breast irradiation reduces local recurrence by about two-thirds. The EBCTCG overview has shown a...
OncoLink Professor On-Call: Lawrence Solin, MD provides exclusive expert review and insights from the recent San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposia for OncoLink The 29th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium was held from Thursday, December 14 through Sunday, December 17, 2006. A wide range of topics was discussed. This symposium is widely considered to be one of the major breast cancer conferences in...
The Breast Cancer Epigenome Presenter: M. Esteller Affiliation: Spanish National Cancer Centre (CNIO), Madrid, Spain Background Epigenetics is the study of information related to DNA that does not depend on the DNA sequence itself. Examples include methylation of DNA...