322 research outputs found
Treatment of Metastatic Breast Cancer
No full textMany newer agents in combination are being studied in the front-line treatment of women with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer (MBC), but the story in the endocrine arena is more about the wise use of new strategies to overcome endocrine resistance, because no new antihormonal agents have been approved in the past decade. During his presentation at the NCCN 19th Annual Conference, Dr. William Gradishar explored what’s new in the treatment of MBC, focusing primarily on enhancing the effect of endocrine therapy to overcome resistance with newer targeted agents such as everolimus, reevaluating the role of rebiopsy on disease progression and measuring circulating tumor cells as a surrogate of response to treatment, and reviewing the effective treatment regimens for HER2-positive disease.</jats:p
Treatment challenges for community oncologists treating postmenopausal women with endocrine-resistant, hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative advanced breast cancer
No full textWilliam J Gradishar Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA Abstract: Community-based oncologists are faced with challenges and opportunities when delivering quality patient care, including high patient volumes and diminished resources; however, there may be the potential to deliver increased patient education and subsequently improve outcomes. This review discusses the treatment of postmenopausal women with endocrine-resistant, hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative advanced breast cancer in order to illustrate considerations in the provision of pertinent quality education in the treatment of these patients and the management of therapy-related adverse events. An overview of endocrine-resistant breast cancer and subsequent treatment challenges is also provided. Approved treatment options for endocrine-resistant breast cancer include hormonal therapies and mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors. Compounds under clinical investigation are also discussed. Keywords: community oncologists, hormone receptor-positive advanced breast cancer, endocrine resistanc
Management of advanced breast cancer with the epothilone B analog, ixabepilone
No full textWilliam GradisharRobert H Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USAAbstract: Despite the activity of standard chemotherapies in advanced breast cancer, disease progression remains inevitable. Most patients exposed to anthracyclines and taxanes develop resistance and a significant subset shows primary resistance. The increasing use of these agents as adjuvant therapy may result in more anthracycline- and taxane-resistant patients in the metastatic setting; few treatment options are available for patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) resistant to multiple chemotherapies. The heterogeneity of breast cancer represents another therapeutic challenge. Breast cancers may be classified as luminal, human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2)-positive, or estrogen receptor-, progesterone receptor-, and human epidermal growth factor 2-negative (ER/PR/HER2-negative, triple negative). HER2-positive and ER/PR/HER2-negative tumors are associated with poor prognosis owing to aggressive disease and poor long-term response to therapy. The epothilone B analog ixabepilone has low susceptibility to multiple mechanisms of resistance and has demonstrated activity in patients with MBC resistant to anthracyclines, taxanes, and/or capecitabine. Ixabepilone is the first epothilone to be approved, as monotherapy or in combination with capecitabine, for treatment of resistant/refractory MBC or locally advanced breast cancer. Treatment with ixabepilone is an option for patients with ER/PR/HER2-negative or HER2-positive disease and/or primary resistance to taxanes.Keywords: breast cancer, drug resistance, epothilone, HER2-positive, ixabepilone, ER/PR/HER2-negative (triple negative
Role of Fcγ receptors in HER2-targeted breast cancer therapy
No full textSeveral therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), including those targeting epidermal growth factor receptor, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), and CD20, mediate fragment crystallizable gamma receptor (FcγR)-dependent activities as part of their mechanism of action. These activities include induction of antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis (ADCP), which are innate immune mechanisms of cancer cell elimination. FcγRs are distinguished by their affinity for the Fc fragment, cell distribution, and type of immune response they induce. Activating FcγRIIIa (CD16A) on natural killer cells plays a crucial role in mediating ADCC, and activating FcγRIIa (CD32A) and FcγRIIIa on macrophages are important for mediating ADCP. Polymorphisms in FcγRIIIa and FcγRIIa generate variants that bind to the Fc portion of antibodies with different affinities. This results in differential FcγR-mediated activities associated with differential therapeutic outcomes across multiple clinical settings, from early stage to metastatic disease, in patients with HER2+ breast cancer treated with the anti-HER2 mAb trastuzumab. Trastuzumab has, nonetheless, revolutionized HER2+ breast cancer treatment, and several HER2-directed mAbs have been developed using Fc glyco-engineering or Fc protein-engineering to enhance FcγR-mediated functions. An example of an approved anti-HER2 Fc-engineered chimeric mAb is margetuximab, which targets the same epitope as trastuzumab, but features five amino acid substitutions in the IgG 1 Fc domain that were deliberately introduced to increase binding to activating FcγRIIIa and decrease binding to inhibitory FcγRIIb (CD32B). Margetuximab enhances Fc-dependent ADCC in vitro more potently than the combination of pertuzumab (another approved mAb directed against an alternate HER2 epitope) and trastuzumab. Margetuximab administration also enhances HER2-specific B cell and T cell-mediated responses ex vivo in samples from patients treated with prior lines of HER2 antibody-based therapies. Stemming from these observations, a worthwhile future goal in the treatment of HER2+ breast cancer is to promote combinatorial approaches that better eradicate HER2+ cancer cells via enhanced immunological mechanisms
Treatment challenges for community oncologists treating postmenopausal women with endocrine-resistant, hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative advanced breast cancer
No full textHikmat Abdel-RazeqDepartment of Internal Medicine, King Hussein Cancer Center, Amman, JordanI read with great interest the review written elegantly by Gradishar addressing the challenges that community oncologists face in treating postmenopausal women with endocrine-resistant, hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2)-negative advanced breast cancer in your journal.1As the author correctly stated, resistance to endocrine therapy in women with hormone receptor-positive disease is very frequent and almost inevitable.Understanding the multiple known mechanisms for endocrine resistance has helped physicians and researchers target these pathways.2 Many of the recently introduced drugs, such as the mTOR inhibitor everolimus3 and the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK 4/6) inhibitor palbociclib,4 are in clinical practice and have been already incorporated in international guidelines.5View original paper by Gradishar
Are Biosimilars the Future of Oncology and Haematology?
No full textBiological drugs are vital but often high-cost components of cancer treatment. Several biosimilar versions of these drugs have been approved in Europe and/or the USA, with many more in development. However, there is some disconnect between the biosimilars that are approved for use and those accessible in clinical practice, with availability impacted by factors including patent litigation and complex healthcare insurance policies, particularly in the USA. Provided the barriers to widespread uptake can be overcome, biosimilars offer potential benefits including cost savings and improved patient access versus the reference product (RP). This article provides an up-to-date and focused perspective on the development and use of biosimilars in the haemato-oncology setting. European and US regulatory pathways governing biosimilar licensing demand that there are no clinically meaningful differences between a biosimilar and its RP. Pathways are rigorously enforced and involve comprehensive non-clinical evaluations and clinical trials in selected indications to establish the equivalence or non-inferiority of efficacy, and the comparability of safety, of the biosimilar versus its RP. 'Indication extrapolation' is only permitted if scientifically justifiable considering mechanism(s) of action, pharmacokinetics, immunogenicity and safety in relevant patient populations. Switching treatment from RP to biosimilar is supported by most available data, predominantly from indications other than cancer, and post-marketing pharmacovigilance programmes are warranted. Notably, the potential benefits of biosimilar cancer treatment may extend beyond direct cost savings: for example, the availability of biosimilars of common regimen components may help incentivise the evaluation and/or clinical use of new treatment approaches and novel drugs
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