The University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences has successfully developed a new model to predict the likelihood of a person developing and dying of breast cancer within ten years. The new risk-based screening model works to identify those at the highest risk of deadly cancers. Despite the ability of breast cancer screening to reduce deaths, it can sometimes lead to unnecessary treatments due to overdiagnosis when innocuous tumours are detected. In the UK, for every 10,000 women aged 50 years invited to breast screening for the next 20 years, 43 breast cancer deaths will be prevented, but 129 will be overdiagnosed. Researchers analysed anonymised data from 11.9 million women aged 20 to 90 years between 2000 and 2020 from the OResearch database. The team tested four different modelling techniques to predict breast cancer mortality risk: two traditional statistical-based models and two artificial intelligence (AI) models, all ...
Pfizer is shelling out $43 billion to acquire Seagen primarily for the Seattle biotech’s antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) capabilities. But a trial win for a small-molecule cancer drug makes the deal more attractive. Seagen on Wednesday said a phase 3 trial testing a combination of its Tukysa and Roche’s Kadcyla has hit its main goal in patients with previously treated HER2-positive breast cancer. Compared with Kadcyla and placebo, the combo significantly reduced the risk of tumor progression or death, Seagen said. Data on patient survival remain immature. Seagen plans to share the detailed results from the HER2CLIMB-02 trial at a medical meeting and will discuss them with the FDA, the company’s R&D chief, Roger Dansey, said in a statement. The positive results further de-risk the Seagen acquisition by Pfizer, Leerink Partners analysts said in a Wednesday note. Since securing FDA approval in 2020, Tukysa has been used alongside trastuzumab (Herceptin) and ...
By Connor Lynch Pictured: Cancer patient in bed looking out window/iStock, Ridofranz Biotech Seagen announced promising Phase III results Wednesday for its tyrosine kinase inhibitor Tukysa (tucatinib), in combination with Genentech’s antibody-drug conjugate Kadcyla (ado-trastuzumab emtansine), which met its primary endpoint of progression-free survival in HER-2 breast cancer patients. The HER2CLIMB-02 trial was investigating the efficacy of Tukysa in combination with Genentech’s Kadcyla to treat locally advanced or metastatic HER-2 breast cancer that had received previous treatment with taxane and trastuzumab. While the trial met the primary endpoint of PFS, the study’s data on its secondary endpoint of overall survival “were not yet mature,” Seagen Chief Medical Officer Roger Dansey said in a statement. The combination arm of the trial also resulted in more discontinuation “due to adverse events,” but also noted that “no new safety signals emerged for the combination.” Serious adverse reactions occurred in the study in 26% ...
Researchers have found a possible explanation as to why higher breast density and older age increase the risk of breast cancer. In an innovative study, researchers at the Turku Bioscience Centre, InFLAMES Flagship of the University of Turku, and Turku University Hospital, Finland, have made an extraordinary discovery that turns conventional wisdom on its head. Their findings reveal that healthy fat cells in the breast, also known as adipocytes, secrete a potent factor called IGFBP2, which acts as a barrier against invasive breast cancer progression. Dr. Emilia Peuhu (Study Key Collaborator) said, “Adipocytes generally get a bad rap for promoting cancer progression, but this study demonstrates that healthy breast fat can play a protective role in the maintenance of tissue homeostasis and cancer containment. It’s time to re-evaluate our assumptions and recognize the important role of these unsung heroes.” Breast cancer patients who experience the transition ...
Sacituzumab govitecan, a novel antibody drug-conjugate therapy was granted accelerated approval on February 3, 2023 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of metastatic HR+, HER2- breast cancer. The FDA action was based on the results of TROPICS-02, a study in which Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Sara Tolaney, MD, MPH, helped lead and which was presented at the European Society of Medical Oncology annual meeting in September 2022 as well as the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in June 2022. Researchers reported that the sacituzumab govitecan produced a statistically significant improvement in overall survival rates compared to chemotherapy. The overall survival rate for patients taking part in the global phase 3 study was 14.4 months for those who received sacituzumab govitecan and 11.2 for those given chemotherapy. The sacituzumab arm of the study also showed superior response rates as well as prolonged median progression free survival ...
Advanced or metastatic estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer is commonly treated with drugs that block the estrogen receptor. However, estrogens that stimulate the receptor can also be effective. Building on their previous studies, researchers at Dartmouth Cancer Center recently concluded a Phase II clinical trial aimed to test the efficacy of alternating between estrogen stimulation and estrogen deprivation in patients with metastatic ER+ breast cancer, and to identify tumor characteristics that predict who might benefit from this strategy. The results, newly published ahead of print in Clinical Cancer Research, support cyclical estrogen/anti-estrogen therapy as a promising strategy to treat advanced/metastatic ER+ breast cancer. The POLLY trial stands for “Phase II study of Pre-emptive oscillation of ER activity levels through alternation of estradiol/anti-estrogen therapies prior to disease progression in ER+/HER2- metastatic or advanced breast cancer.” Among 19 patients enrolled in the trial, 3 (16%) experienced tumor shrinkage during cyclical treatment and ...
Many cancer therapies do not produce the hoped-for results. A common reason for this is that the tumors develop resistance to the medications. This is the case, for example, with alpelisib, a drug that has been approved for use in Switzerland for the past few years as a treatment for advanced breast cancer. A research group at the Department of Biomedicine of the University of Basel has now discovered that the loss of the neurofibromin 1 (NF1) gene leads to a reduced response to alpelisib. The researchers also found that the dietary supplement N-acetylcysteine restores the sensitivity of cancer cells to this treatment. The findings have been published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine on April 11. Loss of gene triggers resistance At the moment, patients with advanced and metastatic breast cancer lack effective treatment options. The PI3K signaling pathway is often overactive in breast cancer due to mutations promoting tumor ...
Research finds use of progestogen is associated with a 20-30% higher risk but this falls after no longer taking it All types of hormonal contraceptives carry a small increased risk of breast cancer, according to research establishing a link with progestogen pills for the first time. The use of progestogen is associated with a 20-30% higher risk of breast cancer, data analysis by University of Oxford researchers has established. This builds on previous work showing that use of the combined contraceptive pill, which contains oestrogen and progestogen, is associated with a small increase in the risk of developing breast cancer that declines after stopping taking it. Claire Knight of Cancer Research UK, which funded the study, said the risk was small and should not discourage most people from taking the pill. She said: “Women who are most likely to be using contraception are under the age of 50, where the risk of ...
The Jak2/Stat5 genetic pathway which controls the natural development of mammary glands and also breast cancer cells is regulated by the enzyme cyclophilin A (CypA), find VCU Massey Cancer Center researchers headed by Charles Clevenger, M.D., Ph.D., which could be a new target for breast cancer therapies. “This research identifies cyclophilin A as a relevant target for therapeutic intervention in breast cancer. Because FDA-approved drugs are available to inhibit the action of CypA, translation of these findings to breast cancer patients should be rapid,” said Clevenger, interim associate director for basic research, member of the Cancer Cell Signaling research program and Carolyn Wingate Endowed Chair in Cancer Research at VCU Massey Cancer Center. “No study to date had previously examined the loss of CypA function during mammary development and the formation of cancer.” Clevenger and his associates could suppress the initiation of the Stat5 pathway in mouse models having ER-positive ...
Finding the ultimate treatment for breast cancer is still a dream for all the pharma companies worldwide. At present, only hormonal therapy, Pfizer’s Ibrance, Eli Lilly’s Verzenio and Novartis’s Kisqali are available for breast cancer treatment.
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