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Kunkler and colleagues conclude: “Our trial provides robust evidence indicating that irradiation can be safely omitted in women 65 years of age or older who have grade 1 or 2, ER-high cancers treated by breast-conserving therapy, provided that they receive 5 years of adjuvant endocrine therapy.” medwireNews is an independent medical news service provided by Springer Healthcare Ltd. © 2023 Springer Healthcare Ltd, part of the Springer Nature Group N Engl J Med 2023; 388 : 585–594 N Engl J Med 2023; 388 : 652–653

Specifically, lung cancer and hematologic cancers were associated with significant 68% and 42% higher risks for death relative to other cancers, respectively, whereas breast cancer and gynecologic cancer were associated with significant 49% and 24% lower risks for death compared with controls.

Individuals with 70-gene signature ultralow-risk breast cancers are significantly less likely to experience distant metastasis or breast cancer-related death than those with low-risk tumors, show data from the phase 3 MINDACT trial.

Individuals with hematologic cancers also had significantly worse outcomes than those with nonmetastatic solid tumors, at ORs of 1.72, 1.44, 1.42, and 1.29 for mortality, hospitalization, mechanical ventilation, and ICU stays, respectively.

A report of two patients with advanced tumors harboring alterations in the RET gene who responded to treatment with the selective inhibitor LOXO-292 highlights that the clinical actionability of RET mutations, say researchers.

Adding abemaciclib to adjuvant endocrine therapy significantly reduces the risk for recurrence in patients with high-risk, hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative, early breast cancer, show phase 3 trial findings.

ADAPT-TP trial findings previously indicated that patients given neoadjuvant trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) alone or alongside endocrine therapy (ET) were significantly more likely to achieve pCR than those given trastuzumab plus ET, at 41.0%, 41.5%, and 15.1 %, respectively, explained Nadia Harbeck (Ludwig Maximilians University Hospital-Grosshadern, Munich, Germany).

The guidance, which draws on the corresponding NCCN guidelines for physicians, includes detailed information on the different types of immune-related adverse events (irAEs), such as endocrine, skin, and musculoskeletal irAEs.

This review article describes the different subtypes of triple-negative breast cancer and potential therapeutic strategies and novel approaches to targeted therapy. Summary points Approximately 15% of invasive breast cancers lack expression of endocrine receptors for estrogen and progesterone (ER and PR, respectively) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2); these are known as ‘triple-negative breast cancers’ (TNBCs). Most TNBCs are classified as the ‘basal-like subtype’, which is characterized by lack of ER/PR/HER2 expression and increased expression of cytokeratins 5 or 6, 14, and 17, P-cadherin, p53, and epidermal growth factor receptor; however, a significant number of basal-like breast cancers do express ER/PR or HER2, and 20–30% of clinical TNBCs are not basal-like by microarray analysis. Clinically, TNBCs are a group of aggressive breast cancers with a greater incidence of relapse, stage-for-stage, than ER/PR-positive and HER2-positive breast cancers, despite optimum loco-regional and systemic therapy. Recently, gene expression analysis identified six distinct TNBC subtypes, each with unique biology and pathologic complete response. To date, no single targeted therapy has been approved for treatment of TNBC, and cytotoxic chemotherapy remains the standard systemic treatment. Potential targeted therapeutic approaches for basal-like TNBCs include poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibition, PI3K inhibition, and luminal androgen receptor targeting. Combining two or more targeted agents with or without chemotherapy may be required to develop a more rational and optimum approach to TNBC treatment, because combination of ‘complementary’ pathway inhibitors would potentially maximize efficacy, and would minimize therapeutic resistance. Abramson VG and Mayer IA. Curr Breast Cancer Rep 2014;6:154. doi:10.1007/s12609-014-0152-1

Of note, PCOS was associated with an elevated risk for not only cancers of the endometrium and ovaries, but also the pancreas, kidneys, and endocrine glands, both in the overall cohort and the premenopausal subgroup.

Patients with high-grade neuroendocrine tumors may benefit from combined treatment with the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab and the anti-CTLA-4 agent ipilimumab, indicate phase II results.

To date, this has led to significant, practice-changing advances in the treatment of cancers such as melanoma, non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), renal cancer, and breast cancer, which has been of great importance given the critical need to improve patient survival rates in these cancers.