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CURE’s metastatic breast cancer page features the latest cancer news and updates on metastatic breast cancer Through articles, videos, podcasts, and more, CURE brings readers the insights of experts, cancer survivors, patients, and advocates to ensure everyone is up to date in metastatic breast cancer.

Last week, we saw a few moving parts in the regulatory space, from new NCCN guidelines for pediatric neuroblastoma treatment to FDA Fast Tracks and Priority Reviews. Also last week, we covered research showing that a lower dose of an anti-emetic drug could have similar efficacy — and fewer side effects — than the standard, higher dose.

NCCN Guidelines Give Framework for Childhood Neuroblastoma Treatment

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network recently published guidelines for the treatment of pediatric patients with neuroblastoma. This resource is geared toward mitigating unnecessary side effects and over treatment in patients with low-risk disease, while also developing the best treatment plans for high-risk patients.

CURE® spoke with Dr. Rochelle Bagatell, professor of Pediatrics and Solid Tumor Section Chief at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and Chair of the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) Panel for Neuroblastoma, who emphasized that while these guidelines can influence treatment strategies, conversations between patient families and clinicians and even insurance coverage, each patient’s care should be as personalized as possible.

“There may be specific cases where the nuances of a particular patient's case means that you have to adjust your thinking from what's written on those nice, clear lines,” Bagatell said. “But the general guidance about how to think about the risk of recurrence, what general type of therapy would be appropriate, how much chemotherapy when to do surgery. Those are the kinds of things that patients and families can look at and bring to their doctor and discuss.”

FDA Fast Tracks ARV-471 for Metastatic Breast Cancer

Last week the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted a Fast Track designation to ARV-471, a novel drug being studied for the treatment of patients with ER-positive, HER2-negative locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer. Specifically, this indication of ARV-471 is for patients who previously underwent endocrine therapy.

Fast Track designations are given to drugs that show promise in treating serious conditions and fill an unmet need. The goal is to speed up the review and potential approval of these therapies.

ARV-471 is being studied in the phase 3 VERITAC-2 clinical trial, which is comparing ARV-471 to Faslodex in this patient population. Preclinical studies showed that the drug induced tumor shrinkage and degradation.

FDA Grants Priority Review for Alecensa in Some ALK-Positive NSCLC

Also in FDA news from last week, the agency granted a priority review to Alecensa as a postsurgical treatment for patients with early-stage ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer.

The priority review is based off findings from the phase 3 ALINA trial, which showed that the drug led to a 76% reduction in the risk of disease recurrence or death compared with chemotherapy treatment. Findings from this study also showed that at two years, 93.8% of patients taking Alecensa experienced disease-free survival (which is the time after treatment when patients do not have symptoms of complications from their cancer), compared with 63% in the chemotherapy group. At three years, disease-free survival rates were 88.3% and 53.3%, respectively.

With the priority review, the FDA said that they plan on making an approval decision on Alecensa on or by May 22, 2023, though those dates can always change.

Lower Dose of Nausea, Vomiting Drug Controls Chemo Symptoms

Finally, research showed that a lower dose of a nausea and vomiting drug could be just as effective as the higher, standard dose when it comes to controlling chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting.

 found that a 2.5-milligram dose of olanzapine is not inferior (meaning it is no less effective) than a 10-milligram dose. Specifically, the researchers looked at the use of rescue medications, vomiting episodes and mild nausea over the course of 120 hours.

Notably, this lower dose can also lead to a decrease in side effects related to the drug, such as feeling of lethargy and drowsiness.

For more news on cancer updates, research and education, don’t forget to 

Last week, we saw a few moving parts in the regulatory space, from new NCCN guidelines for pediatric neuroblastoma treatment to FDA Fast Tracks and Priority Reviews

Guidelines for Childhood Neuroblastoma, FDA Decisions and More

It’s been nearly a decade since Christina McAmis began her journey with stage 4 breast cancer. At the time, she was a 32-year-old married mother of three, including twin boys and a baby daughter, and had recently begun studying at a California law school.

“All sorts of positive, amazing things were coming together into what I thought was going to be the happiest time of my life,” she told 

While breastfeeding her six-month-old daughter, McAmis found a lump, approximately half of the size of a grain of rice, close to her sternum. Given her family history of breast cancer, McAmis began seeing Dr. Claudia DeYoung, an internist specializing in breast health who runs the Center for Breast Health at the South Sacramento Kaiser Permanente Medical Center.

“We had done an ultrasound and determined that it seemed like just a lymph node, I was still nursing so having a lymph node swollen in that area was not surprising,” McAmis said. “I had just started law school, so my nursing schedule had been completely changed because of that (and) my daughter never did ever take a bottle. … And so, we had decided to watch that and if there were changes to let Dr. DeYoung know.”

McAmis became wrapped up in law school, and a couple of weeks before midterms she received an emergency phone call while picking up her sons from school.

“I needed to come home right away, my townhouse was on fire,” she said. “And literally the townhouse next door burnt down to the ground, we were lucky enough just to sustain some really heavy smoke damage. I spent that night with my 12-month-old — who does not sleep well at other people's houses — at my friend's house.”

McAmis had to wake up at 6 a.m. the next day for an appointment with DeYoung, but she was in no mood to do so.

“I was like, ‘I'm not doing this. I'm not doing this,’” she said. “But somewhere in the back of my brain was just like, ‘You've got to do this, it needs to just happen.’ So, I pulled on my big girl boots and trumped off to Dr. DeYoung's office. And we decided to biopsy at that point, because the mass had not gotten really much bigger, but also had not gone away at all.”

Testing determined that McAmis had breast cancer, that the disease was in her lymph nodes and she a lesion on her breastbone, just above her heart.

“At that point, we decided to stop playing, (that) this was stage four, that it had metastasized,” she said.

Chemotherapy, then surgery to remove her breasts and ovaries, followed. McAmis, now working as an attorney, and DeYoung have reconnected via the Cancer Survivorship Program following McAmis’ completion of active treatment as she transitioned to maintenance therapy.

“You know, that grain of (rice), pea-sized lump that Christina and her husband had felt, looked on imaging (to be) benign,” DeYoung said. “But it wasn't. … That follow-up is crucial. That follow up by Christina, that follow up by her care team. And so, I'm glad we stayed on it.

“And again, there's always hindsight and (you could say) ‘Coulda, woulda, shoulda,’ (but) the fact of the matter is we made the best decision at the point in time with the evidence that we had, with the agreement that we're going to monitor this and if it goes away, then great (and) if it doesn't or if it changes then we're going to go down a different route. And we were true to that plan. And thank goodness we were.”

 “Cancer Horizons” podcast, Christina and Dr. DeYoung discuss her cancer journey and Christina shares how she and her family have navigated it together for the last nine years.

“I … told (my children) that right now, we're living,” McAmis said. “I am living, and we're going to focus on the living.”

Christina McAmis’ cancer journey began when she found a lump while breastfeeding. The attorney and mother of three tells the “Cancer Horizons” podcast what the last nine years have been like for her and her family.

Mother with Stage 4 Breast Cancer and Her Family 'Focus on the Living'

When Tiffany O’Donnell, an administrator at Penn State Health Breast Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania, started taking notes about the drug Enhertu (fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki) in her office, she never expected that one day the medication would become a part of her treatment routine.

O’Donnell had just moved back to Pennsylvania with her family in January 2014 when she started experiencing some breast pain. After seeing her doctor and getting a biopsy, she was diagnosed with stage 2b breast cancer at only 33 years old. 

Five years after receiving a double mastectomy (the complete removal of both breasts), doctors discovered that her cancer had metastasized and spread to her bones. She ended up receiving eight rounds of chemotherapy to treat her disease.

Wanting to help other patients like herself, O’Donnell applied for a job at the Penn State Health Breast Center two years after her first diagnosis. This is where she would first learn about Enhertu, a targeted therapy that 

received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval

 in August for women with HER-2 low metastatic breast cancer.

Of note, Enhertu is also FDA-approved for other types of breast cancer, 

.
In today’s episode of the “Cancer Horizons” podcast, O’Donnell discusses what keeps her going in her journey with metastatic breast cancer, how she became classified as a patient with HER-2 low disease and much more.

For more news on cancer updates, research and education, don’t forget to 

A patient with metastatic breast cancer shares how she learned that her disease was recently reclassified as HER-2 low, and what it was like to first learn about the FDA-approved drug years before she would be prescribed the treatment. 

Coming Full Circle: How a Patient Worked With a Breast Cancer Drug Years Before Reclassification of Her Disease Led to the Same Treatment

In this special edition, CURE spoke with Rose Gerber, Director of Patient Advocacy & Education at the Community Oncology Alliance and a breast cancer survivor, about disparities in cancer care, and what we can do to address them moving forward.

CURE® is now accepting nominations for our inaugural Metastatic Breast Cancer Heroes™ Awards! For our inaugural celebration, we are proud to present two separate awards honoring heroes who have made a significant impact in the lives of those affected by metastatic breast cancer. For more information or to nominate your hero today, visit, 

Metastatic Breast Cancer Heroes

In this episode of the “CURE Talks Cancer” podcast, we spoke with Rose Gerber, a breast cancer survivor and advocate, about disparities in cancer care, in particular in breast cancer.

Survivor, Advocate Addresses Disparities in Cancer Care

Metastatic breast cancer has allowed Susan G. Komen Central and Southern New Jersey board member Melissa Surdez to find purpose not just in inspiring others with cancer, but in helping them cope with the COVID-19 pandemic as well.

After being treated for aggressive triple positive stage 3 metastatic breast cancer in 2010 at the age of 40, Surdez thought her experience with cancer was complete, until two years later, when pain that she attributed to her gall bladder turned out to be the return of her cancer. 

But thanks to immediate and aggressive treatment that she remains on to this day, she is here eight years later, living her best life with stage four breast cancer, sharing her story with others.

Talks Cancer podcast, Surdez talked with us about how Komen helped her find a community, and how her experience as a patient has prepared her for navigating treatment and making connections through a global pandemic.

In this week’s episode of the “CURE Talks Cancer Podcast” Melissa Surdez discusses her journey with metastatic breast cancer through the COVID-19 Pandemic.
 

Finding a Purpose Through Metastatic Breast Cancer

The DONNA Foundation hosted its 11th annual DONNA Marathon Weekend in Jacksonville, Florida this past February — all with one specific mantra in mind: Choose love over fear. In this episode, we’ll talk with founder Donna Deegan herself about the foundation and its efforts, as well as the foundation’s executive director Amanda Napolitano on how much they have raised so far, and we’ll hear from one very inspiring participant Hollis Youngner.

The DONNA Foundation

In this episode, we’ll talk with founder Donna Deegan herself about the foundation and its efforts, as well as the foundation’s executive director Amanda Napolitano on how much they have raised so far, and we’ll hear from one very inspiring participant Hollis Youngner.

Love Over Fear

Trodelvy shows effectiveness in real-world breast cancer treatment, even after receiving Enhertu therapy.

Trodelvy Is Effective in Real-World Patients With Breast Cancer Subset

An expert discussed the importance of biomarkers in guiding treatment decisions for patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Biomarkers Guide Treatment for Metastatic Breast Cancer

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Itovebi (inavolisib) with Ibrance (palbociclib) and Faslodex (fulvestrant) for certain patients with advanced or metastatic breast cancer. 

FDA Approves Itovebi Combo for Some With Advanced Breast Cancer

Martha Carlson shares her experience of overcoming her fears and embarking on a whitewater rafting adventure despite her stage 4 cancer diagnosis.

Being Unprepared May Open The Door To Life-Changing Lessons With Stage 4 Cancer

Patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer may consider related side effects and quality of life outcomes when choosing treatments.  

Side Effects, Quality of Life Important to Consider in Breast Cancer Subset

An expert discussed the importance of patients learning about their specific type of breast cancer to understand potential treatment options. 

‘Not Enough to Say Breast Cancer’ When Discussing Diagnoses, Expert Says

As more is understood about the subtypes of breast cancer and therapies to target them, an expert urged patients to learn more about their specific type of breast cancer through biomarker testing.

CURE® spoke with Dr. Shannon Puhalla, who recently moderated the CURE® 

 in Metastatic Breast Cancer event in Pittsburgh. She discussed how patients can discover more about their disease as a way to educate themselves and their families about the specific type of breast cancer they have. She explained how patients can find this information through biomarker testing, and through those results, discussions can be had about treatment options.

Puhalla is an oncologist at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh, senior associate medical director of oncology at the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh.

I actually talked about this yesterday with a patient — it's not enough to say breast cancer, and really it's not enough to say metastatic breast cancer. It's very important to have an understanding about your specific type. Because when you're running into people in the supermarket or somebody that you see at church, and you're talking about it, it may sound completely different, and it may be because it is a completely different disease.

So, I think having a basic understanding about estrogen receptor status, about HER2 status, but then also have an understanding about some of these other genomic markers. So I think really empowering patients to speak with their physicians to understand: What exact type of breast cancer do I have? Have I had 

? Have I had genomic testing? What do those results show? And I do think that many patients are increasingly savvy and increasingly educated about these different things that help to determine their tumor and what their treatment options may be.

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Understanding breast cancer subtypes and targeted therapies is crucial for patients, as emphasized by Dr. Shannon Puhalla. She advocates for biomarker testing to help patients learn about their specific breast cancer type, which can guide treatment discussions. Dr. Puhalla highlights the importance of understanding estrogen receptor status, HER2 status, and other genomic markers. This knowledge empowers patients to engage in informed discussions with their physicians about their disease and treatment options. Increasing patient education and awareness is vital for personalized cancer care.

Metastatic Breast Cancer

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