Search Results

Background: Nationally, gaps exist in the timely and appropriate care of young women with breast cancer. Few women receive genetic and fertility counseling, while contralateral prophylactic mastectomy rates rise. The NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) for Breast Cancer direct breast cancer treatment and symptom management, but care of young newly diagnosed women requires providers to combine elements of several guidelines and consider an appropriate order of assessments and treatments utilizing multidisciplinary consultation. In Nebraska, fewer than 300 women under age 50 are diagnosed with breast cancer annually. One-third of these women live rurally, miles from the NCCN Member Institution. Thus, rural physicians encounter these patients infrequently and may lack local specialists with whom to consult and refer, thus challenging the provision of the highest quality care. Purpose: To improve the efficacy and efficiency with which rural oncology care providers recognize and address physical, psychosocial, and decision-making needs of young women with breast cancer through development and delivery of education, multidisciplinary consultation, and clinical pathways. Methods: Baseline, 2-year electronic medical record data on surgical, medical, and supportive oncology practice patterns for women with breast cancer under age 50 were collected from the University of Nebraska Medical Center and collaborating rural cancer centers. Records were hand searched for fertility and genetic data. The PROMIS Global Health Survey and Sexual Function Profile, the Brief Subjective Decision Quality Measure, and a project-specific care satisfaction survey were mailed to these patients. Data were entered into SPSS and descriptive statistics used to identify the project’s starting point. Results: To date, clinics (rural and urban) identified a 2-year total of 199 women with breast cancer, ages 21 to 49 years. Cancers were stage 0 (n=21), 1 (n=50), 2 (n=40), 3 (n=19), 4 (n=3), and unavailable (n=66). Eight clinical pathways based on ER, PR, and HER2 status were developed to guide treatment, considerations, evidence-based neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapy, and survivorship care. Pathways, with associated educational webinars and links to NCCN Guidelines, are accessible to providers and patients on the project-derived Pathway to Cure website. Website use and webinar views following program implementation will be reported as will comparison of baseline practice patterns with data at the first 3-month analysis.

These NCCN Guidelines Insights highlight the important updates/changes to the surgical axillary staging, radiation therapy, and systemic therapy recommendations for hormone receptor–positive disease in the 1.2017 version of the NCCN Guidelines for Breast Cancer. This report summarizes these updates and discusses the rationale behind them. Updates on new drug approvals, not available at press time, can be found in the most recent version of these guidelines at NCCN.org.

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women in the United States and is second only to lung cancer as a cause of cancer death. The overall management of breast cancer includes the treatment of local disease with surgery, radiation therapy, or both, and the treatment of systemic disease with cytotoxic chemotherapy, endocrine therapy, biologic therapy, or combinations of these. The NCCN Guidelines specific to management of large clinical stage II and III tumors are discussed in this article. These guidelines are the work of the members of the NCCN Breast Cancer Panel. Expert medical clinical judgment is required to apply these guidelines in the context of an individual patient to provide optimal care. Although not stated at every decision point of the guidelines, patient participation in prospective clinical trials is the preferred option of treatment for all stages of breast cancer.

These NCCN Guideline Insights highlight the important updates to the systemic therapy recommendations in the 2016 NCCN Guidelines for Breast Cancer. In the most recent version of these guidelines, the NCCN Breast Cancer Panel included a new section on the principles of preoperative systemic therapy. In addition, based on new evidence, the panel updated systemic therapy recommendations for women with hormone receptor–positive breast cancer in the adjuvant and metastatic disease settings and for patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. This report summarizes these recent updates and discusses the rationale behind them.

These NCCN Guidelines Insights highlight the important updates/changes specific to the management of metastatic breast cancer in the 2012 version of the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) for Breast Cancer. These changes/updates include the issue of retesting of biomarkers (estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2) on recurrent disease, new information regarding first-line combination endocrine therapy for metastatic disease, a new section on monitoring of patients with metastatic disease, and new information on endocrine therapy combined with an mTOR inhibitor as a subsequent therapeutic option.

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women in the United States and is second only to lung cancer as a cause of cancer death. The overall management of breast cancer includes the treatment of local disease with surgery, radiation therapy, or both, and the treatment of systemic disease with cytotoxic chemotherapy, endocrine therapy, biologic therapy, or combinations of these. This portion of the NCCN Guidelines discusses recommendations specific to the locoregional management of clinical stage I, II, and IIIA (T3N1M0) tumors.