Videos

Practical considerations for the sequencing or combination of novel antibody drug conjugates to optimize outcomes for patients with HER2-low breast cancer. 

HER2-low Breast Cancer: Practical Applications of ADC Therapy 

Experts take a look at clinical data behind novel antibody drug conjugates and consider how they may impact the management of HER2-low breast cancer.

Treating HER2-low Breast Cancer With Novel Antibody Drug Conjugates 

Focused discussion on the methods used to identify a patient’s HER2 status and why it is important to investigate in patients with breast cancer. 

Strategies in Identifying and Stratifying HER2 Status in Breast Cancer

Shared insight on the current state of HER2 classification and testing and in breast cancer, with respect to how it may influence future treatment approaches.

Current Landscape of HER2 Testing in Breast Cancer

Sandra M. Swain, MD, Medical Director of the Washington Cancer Institute at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, discusses a taxane’s impact on outcomes in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.

Preclinical data published by Dennis Slamon, MD, PhD, years ago showed synergy of the chemotherapy with a HER2-targeted therapy. Swain says chemotherapy is somewhat important overall and is certainly important in a significant number of patients. Questions still remain regarding which patients actually need that chemotherapy and which do not.

Swain cites a neoadjuvant study that showed that patients who did not receive chemotherapy experienced an adequate pathologic complete response rate, though it was not as high as those who did receive chemotherapy. Swain recommends including chemotherapy in any patient’s treatment regimen, unless he/she refuses.

Sandra M. Swain, MD, Medical Director of the Washington Cancer Institute at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, discusses a taxane's impact on outcomes in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.

Dr. Swain on the Impact of Chemotherapy on Outcomes in HER2-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer

Sandra M. Swain, MD, Medical Director of the Washington Cancer Institute at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, discusses final overall survival (OS) analysis from the CLEOPATRA study of first-line pertuzumab, trastuzumab, and docetaxel for the treatment of patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.

Median OS was 40.8 months in the placebo arm and 56.5 months in the pertuzumab arm — a different of 15.7 months. This is truly a remarkable improvement, Swain says.

Monoclonal antibodies have changed the trajectory of the disease in many patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, Swain says, and they are now able to live fairly normal lives.

Sandra M. Swain, MD, discusses final overall survival analysis from the CLEOPATRA study of first-line pertuzumab, trastuzumab, and docetaxel for the treatment of patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.

Dr. Swain Discusses the Final OS Analysis from the CLEOPATRA Study

Sandra Swain, MD, medical director of the Washington Cancer Institute at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, professor of medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center, discusses issues with pregnant patients with breast cancer.

With approximately 4,000 to 5,000 patients in the United States with breast cancer during pregnancy, many questions exist regarding treatment. Swain says that most physicians have only treated one or two of these patients and it's scary to have a patient in that situation.

Recent data shows that patients who had breast cancer previously did not have an increased risk of recurrence if they got pregnant. Moreover, these patients' survival was the same regardless of pregnancy status. This study, Swain says, supports not getting an abortion if a patient became pregnant after breast cancer. 

Sandra Swain, MD, from the Washington Cancer Institute at MedStar Washington Hospital Center and Georgetown University Medical Center, discusses pregnant patients with breast cancer.

Dr. Swain on Pregnant Patients With Breast Cancer

Sandra Swain, MD, medical director of the Washington Cancer Institute at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, highlights information presented at the 2013 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Meeting.

Swain says she is particularly excited about the data surrounding immunotherapy for the treatment of melanoma. For years, researchers and physicians tried to figure out how immunotherapy would work. Now that it does work in melanoma, it's possible that patients with solid tumors could also see benefit. Recently, a lot of the mysteries surrounding the immune system have been solved.

In an unrelated study, researchers found that using vinegar to screen for cervical cancer is effective. This inexpensive method that can be administered by a public health worker has great global implications to save many lives, Swain says.

Sandra M. Swain, MD

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