San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, Dec. 9 to 12
The annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium was held from Dec. 9 to 12 in San Antonio. Attendees included medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, researchers, and other health care professionals. The conference highlighted recent advances in the risk, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of breast cancer, and presentations focused on emerging treatments in hard-to-treat patient populations, including patients with metastatic breast cancer.
As part of the HER2CLIMB-05 study, Erika Hamilton, M.D., of the Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville, Tennessee, and colleagues found that adding tucatinib to standard trastuzumab and pertuzumab (HP) maintenance in a first-line human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive metastatic breast cancer setting prolongs disease control.
The authors randomly assigned 654 patients with HER2-positive advanced breast cancer who completed four to eight cycles of induction chemotherapy plus HP without disease progression to receive either tucatinib or a placebo with continued HP. The aim of the study was to determine if the benefit patients receive from first-line maintenance therapy could be extended by adding tucatinib to HP after taxane induction.
The researchers found that adding tucatinib to standard HP maintenance extended progression-free survival (PFS) by 8.6 months, a significant amount of time for patients living with metastatic disease. The benefit was consistent across key subgroups, including patients with hormone receptor-positive and hormone receptor-negative disease, with and without brain metastases. The safety profile was manageable, with the expected tucatinib-related liver enzyme elevations and manageable diarrhea.
"We are essentially seeing a chemotherapy-free strategy that helps patients remain on treatment longer before their disease progresses. While the overall survival data are not yet mature, the consistency of the PFS benefit makes this an important finding for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer," Hamilton said. "Right now, tucatinib is used in later-line settings, so this represents a potential future shift where we may be able to offer patients a strategy to prolong the maintenance phase of first-line therapy by not only delaying disease progression but also prolonging time off cytotoxic chemotherapy. If approved, this could broaden how we think about maintenance therapy for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer."
The study was funded by Seagen (acquired by Pfizer), which manufactures tucatinib.
As part of the phase 2 ENHANCE clinical trial, Jun J. Mao, M.D., of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, and colleagues found that both real and sham acupuncture improve breast cancer survivors' perceived cognitive impairment compared with usual care alone, with real acupuncture demonstrating a more significant benefit compared to sham acupuncture.
The authors conducted a randomized clinical trial comparing acupuncture against usual care and sham acupuncture (a procedure mimicking acupuncture without needle penetrating the skin, nor using classic acupuncture points). Patients received 10 weekly acupuncture treatments and then were followed for an additional 16 weeks off treatment. Patient perception of cognitive difficulty was evaluated using survey data, and objective cognitive function was evaluated using standardized tests. The researchers demonstrated that both real and sham acupuncture led to a clinically meaningful benefit for perceived cognitive difficulties when compared to usual care. Meanwhile, real acupuncture was significantly better than sham in improving objective cognitive function.
"For women with breast cancer, real acupuncture can improve both subjective perception of cognitive difficulties and objective cognitive function," Mao said. "The process of receiving acupuncture (i.e., engaging in a therapeutic process and being heard, validated, and cared for) contributes to improved subjective perception; the specific needling of our acupuncture protocol can improve objective cognitive function."
Joanne Kotsopoulos, Ph.D., of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto , and colleagues evaluated the impact of menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) use on breast cancer risk among women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation who were unaffected by cancer and had two breasts intact.
The authors leveraged a large database and conducted an analysis of MHT use and BRCA-breast cancer, with the goal of generating evidence specifically for this high-risk group. Women who did and did not initiate MHT after menopause (mostly surgical) were followed prospectively for disease incidence.
Overall, the researchers found that use of any type of MHT was associated with a lower risk of breast cancer (an inverse association) compared to women who did not use MHT. In the analysis stratified by type of formulation, the inverse association was strongest with use of estrogen-alone MHT. There was no association (no increase or decreased risk) seen with estrogen + progestogen MHT. Findings were similar for BRCA1 and BRCA2 carriers.
"This adds to the body of literature on the topic. We need to ensure that we apply an evidenced-based approach to managing this high-risk population postoophorectomy. Unless contraindicated for another reason, MHT appears to offer a safe approach to manage the acute and longer-term sequelae of oophorectomy," Kotsopoulos said. "We should continue to take a personalized approach with all women who have entered very early menopause with the goal of ensuring a long and healthy life."
SABCS: Risk-Based Screening Noninferior for Identifying Stage ≥IIB Breast Cancer
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 17, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- Risk-based screening, including genetic testing, is noninferior to annual screening for detecting stage ≥IIB cancers and does not reduce biopsy rates despite fewer mammograms, according to a study published online Dec. 12 in the Journal of the American Medical Association to coincide with the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held from Dec. 9 to 12 in San Antonio.
SABCS: New Endocrine Therapy, Giredestrant, Cuts Breast Cancer Recurrence
TUESDAY, Dec. 16, 2025 (HealthDay News) – Giredestrant, a selective estrogen receptor antagonist and degrader given as an adjuvant therapy, shows significant improvement in invasive disease-free survival in patients with early-stage, hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative breast cancer, according to a study presented at the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held from Dec. 9 to 12 in San Antonio.
SABCS: Acupuncture Beneficial for Cognition in Breast Cancer
FRIDAY, Dec. 12, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- For women with a history of breast cancer, real and sham acupuncture produce clinically meaningful improvements in perceived cognitive impairment, according to a study presented at the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held from Dec. 9 to 12 in San Antonio.
SABCS: mHealth Intervention Improves QoL in Adolescent, Young Adult Breast Cancer Survivors
FRIDAY, Dec. 12, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- For adolescent and young adult breast cancer survivors, a scalable mobile health intervention improves quality of life and reduces specific symptoms, according to a study presented at the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held from Dec. 9 to 12 in San Antonio.
SABCS: Menopausal Hormone Therapy Does Not Increase Breast Cancer Risk in BRCA Carriers
FRIDAY, Dec. 12, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- Use of menopausal hormone therapy following menopause is not associated with an increased risk for breast cancer among BRCA1 and BRCA2 carriers, according to a study presented at the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held from Dec. 9 to 12 in San Antonio.
SABCS: Breast MRI Does Not Increase Local Regional Control in Some Early-Stage Breast Cancers
THURSDAY, Dec. 11, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- Breast magnetic resonance imaging for local staging and surgical planning does not improve local regional control among patients with early-stage triple-negative and human epidermal growth factor 2-positive breast cancer, according to a study presented at the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held from Dec. 9 to 12 in San Antonio.
SABCS: Omission of SLNB Safe in Clinically T1-2 Node-Negative Breast Cancer
THURSDAY, Dec. 11, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with clinically T1-2 node-negative breast cancer, the omission of sentinel lymph node biopsy results in noninferior five-year regional recurrence rates and regional recurrence-free survival, according to a study presented at the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held from Dec. 9 to 12 in San Antonio.