Treating Brain Metastases

bctt on October 1, 2019

Studies suggest that between 15 and 30 percent of women and men with metastatic breast cancer will develop brain metastases. This number has been increasing as MBC patients live longer on treatments that control cancer growth in other areas of the body.

Clinical trials are currently looking at the best way to treat brain metastases. In September, the FDA approved neratinib (Nerlynx®) as a treatment for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. Its previous approval was for extended adjuvant treatment for patients with early-stage HER2+ breast cancer who have already received trastuzumab (Herceptin®).

With the links below, you can learn more about developments in treating breast cancer brain metastases and the new FDA approval. You can also find links to all the clinical trials listed on BCT for breast cancer brain metastases, including the first trial to use CAR T cell therapy to treat HER2+ brain metastases.

OS vs. PFS: What You Need to Know

bctt on October 1, 2019

Clinical trials are set up to look at specific outcomes. Click to read about how progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) are used to measure treatment effectiveness.

How to Ask Your Doctor About Clinical Trials

bctt on October 1, 2019

As a woman or man living with metastatic breast cancer, you may have thought about whether a clinical trial would be a good option for your care. But if your doctor has never talked to you about clinical trials, you may not know when or how to broach the subject.

Below you can find tips on how to talk to your doctor about clinical trials as well as checklists of questions to ask your doctor that you can bring with you to your next appointment. If your doctor doesn’t want to talk to you about clinical trials, you may want to consider getting a second opinion from another doctor. (You can learn more about how to get a second opinion in the September 2019 MTT.)

Additional checklists on How to Talk to Your Doctor:

More Men Needed in Breast Cancer Trials

bctt on October 1, 2019

Breast cancer is rare in men. About one percent of all breast cancer diagnoses are in men. However, when men are diagnosed, their cancer tends to be at a later stage. And a recent JAMA Oncology study found that, overall, men are more likely than women to die of their disease.

Most drugs used to treat breast cancer have not been tested in men. In April, when the FDA approved Ibrance® for men with metastatic breast cancer, it used real-world data collected on off-label use, not data from a clinical trial.

The FDA wants to change this. In September, it issued draft guidelines that encourage researchers to include men with breast cancer in their clinical trials to improve drug development and access.

Below you can learn more about the FDA’s statement as well as read the FDA’s draft guidelines: “Male Breast Cancer: Developing Drugs for Treatment.”

We’ve also included links to the JAMA Oncology article on breast cancer mortality along with an article on the FDA’s approval of Ibrance® using real-world data.

You can find more information for men with metastatic breast cancer on the Male Breast Cancer Coalition‘s website.

New FDA Approval: A PI3K Inhibitor

bctt on September 3, 2019

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Piqray® for treating advanced breast cancer. Use the links below to learn more about the FDA approval and how PI3K inhibitors work and to find clinical trials on Metastatic Trial Search for Piqray and other therapies being tested in patients whose tumors have a PIK3CA mutation.

True or False?

bctt on September 3, 2019

You may be treated with only a placebo in a metastatic breast cancer clinical trial. 

 

Answer: False

A patient with metastatic breast cancer will never receive only a placebo in a clinical trial.

It is possible that a placebo could be given along with the new treatment. But that would only occur if the new treatment was being given along with another drug, and the researchers wanted to see if the two-drug combination had different safety and effects than the one drug alone.

Also, if standard therapy is available, a patient may receive the standard therapy plus the new therapy or the standard therapy plus a placebo. But the patient would never receive the placebo alone.

You can learn more about how and when placebos are used in clinical trials below.

New Guideline Includes Immunotherapy

bctt on September 3, 2019

In March, the immunotherapy Tecentriq® (atezolizumab) became the first to be included in NCCN Treatment Guidelines for metastatic breast cancer. It can be used along with Abraxane® (nab-paclitaxel) to treat patients with locally advanced or metastatic triple negative breast cancer who have a tumor that tests positive for PD-L1.

Immunotherapy is a type of biological therapy that uses the body’s immune system to fight cancer. There are many new types of immunotherapies being developed and researchers are actively studying which ones might work in patients with breast cancer.

Below you will find relevant information about MBC treatment guidelines as well as research news and clinical trials on immunotherapy for metastatic breast cancer.

How to Get a Medical Interpreter

bctt on September 3, 2019

Federal law requires that all health care organizations provide patients who speak little or no English with an interpreter. Providers that take Medicaid or Medicare (which are federal funds for health care services) must also meet a patient’s language needs. However, not all providers do so, and it’s often not clear if the provider, patient or insurer is responsible for paying for these services.

Below you will find links to a list of certified medical interpreters and how to find out what your insurer will cover. We’ve also included some news stories about the important role interpreters play in health care and problems patients face when they do no have access to these services.

Should You Get A Second Opinion?

bctt on September 3, 2019

Whether you were diagnosed with MBC de novo or have experienced a metastatic recurrence, a second opinion can help you learn more about your treatment options as well as make you more confident about the treatment plan you choose.

Below you can find articles that can help you think about when and how to get a second opinion. We’ve also included links to NCI-Designated Cancer Centers and NCI Community Oncology Research Programs. Centers included on these lists will offer a range of clinical trials.

What is Oligometastatic Breast Cancer?

bctt on June 2, 2019

Women and men with metastatic breast cancer are typically told their cancer can be treated but not cured. This is true for most patients. But there are some patients who have only a small number of metastatic sites who doctors think may potentially have a different outcome. These patients have what is called oligometastatic breast cancer (OBC, oligo is Greek for few).

It is estimated that up to 20% of metastatic breast cancer patients have OBC. Oligometastases is not unique to breast cancer; it is seen in patients with other types of cancers as well. Studies have shown that tumors found in patients with oligometastatic cancer (OC) are biologically different from those seen in patients who have multiple sites of metastases. Whether OC responds to treatment better or is just slow growing isn’t clear.

Some of the articles below discuss OC in general. Others discuss OBC specifically. Each can help you better understand this subset of metastatic cancer and why researchers believe it could, potentially, be cured.

Oligometastatic Breast Cancer (OBC)

Oligometastatic Cancer (OC)

Visit Metastatic Trial Search to find trials for oligometastatic breast cancer.