Adding the chemotherapy drug carboplatin and/or the antibody therapy bevacizumab to standard presurgery chemotherapy increased the number of women with triple-negative breast cancer who had no residual cancer detected at surgery, according to results of a randomized, phase II clinical trial.

New research examined how changes in the genetic composition of breast cancer tumors after brief exposure to either biologic therapy or chemotherapy can predict future clinical outcomes in patients.

A Phase I trial of endoxifen, an active metabolite of the cancer drug tamoxifen, indicates that the experimental drug is safe, with early evidence for anti-tumor activity, a study has found. The findings indicate that Z-endoxifen may provide a new and better treatment for some women with estrogen positive breast cancer and, in particular, for those women who do not respond to tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors.

Human breast tumors transplanted into mice are excellent models of metastatic cancer and are providing insights into how to attack breast cancers that no longer respond to the drugs used to treat them, according to research.

Cell biologists have identified a unique class of breast cancer cells that lead the process of invasion into surrounding tissues. Because invasion is the first step in the deadly process of cancer metastasis, the researchers say they may have found a weak link in cancer's armor and a possible new target for therapy.

Women with breast cancer characterized by high levels of the protein HER2 and hormone receptors gained much less benefit from presurgery treatment with chemotherapy and HER2-targeted therapies if their cancer had one or more mutations in the PIK3CA gene, according to study results.

Adding the drug dasatinib to a standard antihormone therapy, letrozole, doubled the time before disease progressed for women with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer, according to results of a phase II clinical trial.

Breast cancer incidence among postmenopausal women at high risk for developing the disease was significantly reduced by the antihormone therapy anastrozole, indicating that the drug may be an effective new option for breast cancer prevention for this group of women, according to initial results of a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

A study done shows that many relatives of patients who undergo testing for a gene linked to breast and ovarian cancers misinterpret the results, and less than half of those who could benefit from genetic testing say they plan to get tested themselves -- despite the fact that knowing your genetic status may help catch the disease in its earliest stages.

Women being treated with breast cancer drugs known as aromatase inhibitors can markedly ease the joint pain associated with the drugs by engaging in moderate daily exercise, investigators report in a study.