Articles

Peri-operative atezolizumab in early-stage triple-negative breast cancer: final results and ctDNA analyses from the randomized phase 3 IMpassion031 trial

Elizabeth A Mittendorf, Zoe June Assaf, Nadia Harbeck, et al. Nat Med. 2025 Jul;31(7):2397-2404

Patients with previously untreated stage II/III TNBC enrolled in 75 academic and community sites in 13 countries were randomized 1:1 to receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy with either peri-operative atezolizumab (n = 165) or preoperative placebo (n = 168). Descriptive secondary endpoints included event-free, disease-f... Read More

13 May, 2026

Prediction of survival after de-escalated neoadjuvant therapy in HER2-positive early breast cancer: a pooled analysis of three WSG trials

M Graeser, O Gluz, C Zu Eulenburg, et al. Ann Oncol. 2025 Nov;36(11):1366-1378

A total of 713 patients were analyzed; neoadjuvant chemotherapy (paclitaxel plus pertuzumab plus trastuzumab): n = 149, neoadjuvant chemotherapy-free (pertuzumab plus trastuzumab, trastuzumab-only)/antibody-drug conjugate (ADC, trastuzumab emtansine) treatment: n = 564. Patients with pathological complete response... Read More

13 May, 2026

AGO Breast Commission recommendations for the surgical therapy of breast cancer: Working Group on Gynecologic Cancers (AGO) update 2025

Toralf Reimer, Thorsten Kuehn, Volkmar Mueller, et al. Eur J Surg Oncol 2025 Nov;51(11):110445

The German Guideline Commission (AGO: Working Group on Gynecologic Cancers) updated its recommendations on the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer in March 2025. The most important changes include the incorporation of INSEMA and SOUND trial results into the guidelines. In patients with low-risk characteristics... Read More

13 May, 2026

Neoadjuvant trastuzumab deruxtecan alone or followed by paclitaxel, trastuzumab, and pertuzumab for high-risk HER2-positive early breast cancer (DESTINY-Breast11): a randomised, open-label, multicentre, phase III trial

N Harbeck, S Modi, L Pusztai, et al. Ann Oncol. 2026 Feb;37(2):166-179

DESTINY-Breast11 assessed efficacy and safety of neoadjuvant trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd) alone or followed by paclitaxel + trastuzumab + pertuzumab (THP) versus dose-dense doxorubicin + cyclophosphamide (ddAC) followed by THP for high-risk (≥cT3cN0 or cT0-4cN1-3) HER2-positive disease. 286 (T-DXd), 321 (T-DXd-TH... Read More

12 May, 2026

Trastuzumab Deruxtecan in Residual HER2-Positive Early Breast Cancer

Sibylle Loibl, Yeon Hee Park, Zhiming Shao, et al. N Engl J Med. 2026 Feb 26;394(9):845-857

A total of 1635 patients were randomly assigned (in a 1:1 ratio) to receive T-DXd (818 patients) or T-DM1 (817 patients). Invasive-disease events or deaths were reported in 51 patients (6.2%) in the T-DXd group and 102 patients (12.5%) in the T-DM1 group (hazard ratio, 0.47; P<0.001); 3-year invasive disease-fre... Read More

12 May, 2026

Surgical Outcomes After Neoadjuvant Pembrolizumab Plus Chemotherapy for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Results from the Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Phase 3 KEYNOTE-522 Study

Sherko Kuemmel, Peter A Fasching, Peter Schmid, et al. Ann Surg Oncol. 2026 Feb 25

We prospectively evaluated surgical outcomes following neoadjuvant pembrolizumab or placebo added to neoadjuvant chemotherapy among participants with early-stage triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) in the phase 3 KEYNOTE-522 study. After definitive surgery, participants received adjuvant pembrolizumab/placebo Q3W ... Read More

12 May, 2026

Adjuvant Olaparib for Patients with BRCA1- or BRCA2-Mutated Breast Cancer

Andrew N J Tutt, Judy E Garber, Bella Kaufman, et al. N Engl J Med. 2021 Jun 24;384(25):2394-2405

New therapies are needed to reduce recurrence in patients with BRCA1 or BRCA2 germline mutation-associated early breast cancer. We conducted a phase 3, double-blind, randomized trial involving patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative early breast cancer with BRCA1 or BRCA2germline pat... Read More

12 May, 2026

Palbociclib combined with endocrine treatment in hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer patients with high relapse risk after neoadjuvant chemotherapy: subgroup analyses of premenopausal patients in PENELOPE-B

F Marmé, M Martin, M Untch, et al. ESMO Open. 2024 Jun;9(6):103466

The PENELOPE-B study demonstrated that the addition of 1-year post-neoadjuvant palbociclib to endocrine therapy (ET) in patients with high-risk early breast cancer (BC) did not improve invasive disease-free survival (iDFS) compared to placebo. Here, we report results for premenopausal women. Overall, 616 of 1250 ra... Read More

12 May, 2026

Survival with Trastuzumab Emtansine in Residual HER2-Positive Breast Cancer

Charles E Geyer Jr, Michael Untch, Chiun-Sheng Huang, et al. N Engl J Med. 2025 Jan 16;392(3):249-257

Patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive early breast cancer with residual invasive disease after neoadjuvant systemic therapy have a high risk of recurrence and death. The primary analysis of KATHERINE, a phase 3, open-label trial, showed that the risk of invasive breast cancer or dea... Read More

12 May, 2026

Switching to T-DM1 remains justified in patients with HER2-negative residual invasive breast cancer after neoadjuvant therapy

Charles E Geyer Jr and Sibylle Loibl. Breast. 2025 Jun:81:104450

Reductions in HER2-protein IHC intensity and HER2-gene amplification in residual invasive breast cancer following neoadjuvant therapy for HER2-positive breast cancer have been described and are associated with worse outcomes. T-DM1 requires initial binding to HER2 for activity, so concerns have been raised regardin... Read More

12 May, 2026