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PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Homologous recombination repair deficiency (HRD) increases breast cancer susceptibility and influences both prophylactic and active management of breast cancer. This review evaluates HRD testing and the therapeutic implications of HRD in a global context. RECENT FINDINGS: Ongoing research efforts have highlighted the importance of HRD beyond BRCA1/2 as a potential therapeutic target in breast cancer. However, despite the improved affordability of next-generation sequencing (NGS) and the discovery of PARP inhibitors, economic and geographical barriers in access to HRD testing and breast cancer screening do not allow all patients to benefit from the personalized treatment approach they provide. Advancements in HRD testing modalities and targeted therapeutics enable tailored breast cancer management. However, inequalities in access to testing and optimized treatments are contributing to widening health disparities globally.
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Aim: The overamplification of human epidermal growth factor (HER2) in breast cancer (BC) has been the subject of numerous research publications since its discovery in 1987. This is the first bibliometric analysis (BA) conducted on HER2-positive (HER2+) BC. The purpose of this BA is to analyze the published research on HER2+ BC from 1987 to 2024, highlighting the most significant scientific literature, as well as the main contributing authors and journals, and evaluating the impact of clinical and lab-based publications on HER2+ BC research. Methods: The Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) was searched using the terms "Breast cancer" OR "Breast carcinoma" OR "Breast tumor" AND "HER2 positive" OR "HER2+". The search was limited by publication year (1987-2024) and only full English articles were included. WoS returned 7,469 relevant results, and from this dataset, a bibliometric analysis was conducted using the "analyze results" and "journal citation report" functions in WoS and the VOSviewer 1.6.16 software to generate bibliographic coupling and co-citation analysis of authors. Results: The analysis encompassed a total of 7,469 publications, revealing a notable increase in the annual number of publications, particularly in recent years. The United States, China, Italy, Germany, and Spain were the top five most prolific countries. The top five significant institutions that published HER2+ research were the University of Texas System, Unicancer, UTMD Anderson Cancer Center, Harvard University, and University of California System. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, Clinical Cancer Research, and Clinical Breast Cancer were the top three notable journals with the highest number of HER2+ BC publications. Dennis Slamon (Nc = 45,411, H-index = 51) and Jose Baselga (Nc = 32,592, H-index = 55) were the most prolific authors. Evolving research topics include anti-HER2 therapy in the neoadjuvant setting, treatment of metastatic HER2+ BC, and overcoming therapy resistance. Conclusion: This study provides an overview of HER2+ BC research published over the past three decades. It provides insight into the most cited papers and authors, and the core journals, and identifies new trends. These manuscripts have had the highest impact in the field and reflect the continued evolution of HER2 as a therapeutic target in BC.
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BACKGROUND: There have been ongoing attempts to de-escalate surgical intervention in older breast cancer patients in recent years. However, there remains ongoing hesitancy amongst surgeons to de-implement axillary staging in this cohort. The supporting argument for performing a sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is that it may guide subsequent management. METHODS: A retrospective review was performed of 356 SLNBs, in 342 women ≥ 70 years of age with invasive breast cancer, between 2014 and 2022 in a single institution. Data were collected on patient and tumor characteristics and subsequent management for all patients and for patients with ER+/HER2-, early-stage disease. RESULTS: Positive SLNB significantly increased likelihood of receiving adjuvant chemotherapy (CTh) in patients aged 70-75 in all clinical subtypes (OR 4.0, 95% CI, 1.6-10; P = .0035). Positive SLNB did not significantly increase likelihood of receiving adjuvant CTh in patients aged 75-80, however, an Oncotype Dx score of ≥ 26 did (OR 34.50, 95% CI, 3.00-455.2; P = .0103). Positive SLNB was significantly associated with receiving adjuvant radiotherapy (RTh) in all patients aged 70-75 (OR 4.5, 95% CI, 2.0-11; P = .0004) and 75-80 (OR 9.7, 95% CI, 2.7-46; P = .0015). In patients aged ≥ 80 years, positive SLNB did not have a significant influence on subsequent treatments. CONCLUSION: In this study, SLNB did not significantly influence subsequent management decisions in patients over 80 and should rarely be performed in this cohort. However, SLNB still had a role in patients aged 70-80 and should be used selectively in this cohort.
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PURPOSE OF REVIEW: In the last decade, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors have been approved in the treatment of several cancers, such as breast and ovarian cancer. This article aims to discuss the current uses, limitations, and future directions for PARP inhibitors (PARPis) in the treatment of breast cancer. RECENT FINDINGS: Following the results of the OlympiAD and EMBRACA trials, PARPis were approved in HER2-negative breast cancer with a germline BRCA mutation. We reviewed this class of drugs' mechanism of action, efficacy, and limitations, as well as further studies that discussed resistance, impaired homologous recombination repair (HRR), and the combination of PARPis with other drugs. Improving understanding of HRR, increasing the ability to target resistance, and combining PARPis with other novel agents are continuing to increase the clinical utility of PARPis.
