IMPAKT Breast Cancer Conference

Brussels—A retrospective study of patients with metastatic breast cancer shows that the number of circulating tumor cells in the patient’s bloodstream prognosticates the length of their survival, information that can be used to adjust treatment at the end of life.

Brussels—A simple genetic test using only 3 genes is among the most effective means of classifying breast cancer into the subtypes that indicate pa tients’ different prognoses and response or resistance to cancer therapies, say researchers, and this finding could allow greater use of personalized treatments in breast cancer.

Brussels—Researchers attempting to understand why some women with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)–positive breast cancer do not respond to drugs designed to target this molecule have found that inhibiting the PI3K/AKT molecular pathway instead may offer greater therapeutic benefit for this group. The findings were presented at the IMPAKT [Improving Care and Knowledge Through Translational Research] Breast Cancer Conference, held May 5-8.