Endocrine Therapy for Early Breast Cancer

In this blog post, I will review the current recommendation of endocrine therapy for early non-metastatic breast cancer hormone positive breast cancer (Estrogen receptor positive ER + and/or Progesterone receptor positive PR +), this is most often referred to as Adjuvant hormonal or Adjuvant Endocrine therapy, for discussion regarding the use of endocrine therapy for metastatic breast cancer please refer to my earlier post by clicking here.

Hormone receptor-positive Breast cancer comprise 75% of all cases.

Endocrine therapy is of significant benefit and Generally well tolerated.

Continue reading “Endocrine Therapy for Early Breast Cancer”

Bone Health in Breast Cancer Survivors.

Bone health among breast cancer survivors continues to be a heavily debated subject in medical oncology with many developments occurring during the past decade. Skeletal complications in breast cancer patient can be caused chemotherapy-induced ovarian failure, use of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists, surgical oophorectomy, and use of AI’s all of the above can cause bone loss and increased risk for fractures, however in this blog post, I will focus my discussion on bone toxicity caused by aromatase inhibitors (AI) such as anastrozole, letrozole, and exemestane. With the increasing use of AI’s in postmenopausal women, as well as, the use of AI’s in combination with GnRH agonist agents in premenopausal women, oncologists are now more than ever required to have a deep understanding of bone loss associated with AI’s (AIBL) and taking measures to help prevent such complication. For a patient-oriented discussion of bone health please click here.

Women receiving aromatase inhibitor therapy are at increased risk for fractures.

 

Continue reading “Bone Health in Breast Cancer Survivors.”

Triple Negative Metastatic Breast Cancer

Triple negative (TNBC) metastatic breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease, chemotherapy remains the mainstay of treatment, however, new treatments based on identifying molecular subtypes, stratifying TNBC based on gene expression assays with subsequent specific targeted therapy is an area of intense clinical research. In this post, I will review our current standard clinical practice and explore ongoing and future clinical directions.

Metastatic TNBC is very heterogenous, and while Basal type is most common, it only account for nearly 80% of all cases.

 

Continue reading “Triple Negative Metastatic Breast Cancer”

Breast Cancer Neoadjuvant Therapy Part 2/3

Neoadjuvant therapy was discussed in a prior post, in this post I will discuss the following items

  • Patient evaluation throughout neoadjuvant therapy.
  • Treatment modalities in neoadjuvant therapy.
  • Special patient subgroups.
  • Management of the axilla.

Continue reading “Breast Cancer Neoadjuvant Therapy Part 2/3”