Publication Details - Overview

View all Online CME

Continuing Education Information

Physicians' Education Resource is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Physicians' Education Resource designates this educational activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

The Next Generation of Combinations for Breast Cancer: Building on Targeted Therapies
Online Only Cancer Summaries & Commentaries

Release Date: August 22, 2008
Expiration Date: August 22, 2009

Publication Overview

Author

PER Editorial Staff

Overview and Purpose

Audio Commentaries by: Joyce O’Shaughnessy, MD

The treatment of breast cancer has evolved rapidly in recent years, primarily due to targeted therapies designed to inhibit pathologic signaling. In particular, endocrine therapy and HER2-targeted agents have significantly improved clinical outcomes in a variety of settings. De novo and acquired resistance to these approaches, however, remain a substantial clinical problem. Methods under investigation to treat HER2+ disease that has progressed on standard antibody-based therapies include the use of small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) targeting HER2 receptor alone or in combination with other HER2-targeted agents, the use of novel antibody-drug conjugates, and the targeting of downstream pathway components. Inhibitors of proteins that drive adaptive responses involved in hormone therapy resistance are also being evaluated. These agents can potentially restore the sensitivity of hormone receptor–positive breast cancers and prevent the emergence of resistance if used earlier in disease progression. The adaptive nature of breast cancer requires the continued development of novel strategies and careful analysis of data from clinical trials investigating methods for overcoming resistance to existing therapies.

The purpose of this activity is to educate physicians on novel strategies designed to prevent or overcome resistance to HER2-targeted agents or endocrine therapy in the treatment of breast cancer.

Target Audience

This educational activity is intended for medical oncologists involved in the care of patients with breast cancer. No specific skills or knowledge other than a basic training in oncology is required for successful participation in this activity.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this educational activity, you should be able to:

  • Assess the efficacy and safety of dual HER1/HER2 inhibition using antibody-based therapies and small-molecule TKIs in heavily pretreated metastatic breast cancer (MBC) that has progressed on HER2-targeted therapy
  • Evaluate the safety and preliminary antitumor activity of HER2-targeted immunotoxins in HER2+ MBC that has progressed on HER2-targeted therapy
  • Assess the safety and efficacy of the addition of a mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor to conventional therapy for HER2+ MBC that has progressed on HER2-targeted therapy
  • Evaluate the underlying rationale, efficacy, and safety of combining an mTOR inhibitor with an aromatase inhibitor as neoadjuvant therapy for postmenopausal patients with newly diagnosed estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer
  • Evaluate the safety and efficacy of combining a histone deacetylase inhibitor with endocrine therapy for estrogen receptor–positive MBC with resistance to prior aromatase inhibitor therapy

Instructions for Participation

  1. Read the following information before entering the educational activity.
  2. Study the educational activity.
  3. Complete the CME test.
  4. Answer the evaluation questions.
  5. After successful completion of the CME test and evaluation, you will receive your certificate of credit online.

Read all of the conditions in the Activity Terms box below. You must accept the Activity Terms in order to continue:

Disclosure Policy

It is the policy of Physicians' Education Resource to ensure balance, independence, objectivity, and scientific rigor in all of its educational activities. As an organization accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), Physicians' Education Resource requires everyone who is in a position to control the content of an educational activity, including spouses/partners, to disclose all relevant financial relationships with any commercial interest. The ACCME defines “relevant financial relationships” as financial relationships in any amount occurring within the past 12 months that create a conflict of interest. Physicians' Education Resource has implemented a mechanism to identify and resolve all conflicts of interest prior to the activity.

Joyce O’Shaughnessy, MD
Paid Consultant – AstraZeneca, Eisai Inc., Eli Lilly and Company, Genentech, Inc., Molecular Profiling Institute, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Pfizer Inc., sanofi-aventis U.S.
Speaker’s Bureau – Abraxis Oncology, AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly and Company, sanofi-aventis U.S.

PER Editorial Staff
No relevant relationships to disclose

This CME activity might include discussion of investigational and/or unlabeled uses of drugs. If the activity includes discussion of investigational and/or unlabeled uses of a drug, specific information is located on the title page. Please refer to the full prescribing information for each drug discussed in this newsletter for FDA–approved dosing, indications, and warnings.

Commercial Support
An educational grant for this activity was provided by Genentech BioOncology.

Software Requirements

The Web pages and Web–based applications require a minimum Web browser of Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher, Mozilla Firefox 1.0 or higher, or another compatible Web browser.

If you are not sure of the version of your browser, select Help in the menu bar of your browser, then select About.

PC Users
If you need to upgrade your Web browser, follow one of the links listed below:

Macintosh Users
Compatible Web browsers include Firefox (Outside Source) and Apple Safari (Outside Source)

Banner Illustration
Illustrator: Pam Curry

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed in this activity are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsor, supporter, or publisher. Although great care has been taken in compiling and checking the information given in this activity to ensure accuracy, the authors, and Physicians' Education Resource and its servants or agents shall not be responsible or in any way liable for the continued currency of the information or for any errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this activity, whether arising from negligence or otherwise howsoever or for any consequences arising therefrom.

Please consult full prescribing information for any drugs or procedures discussed within.

This activity is not sanctioned by, nor a part of, the 44th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Privacy Policy

Physicians' Education Resource (PER) makes reasonable efforts to ensure that privacy issues are handled responsibly. PER does not sell or share your information with other organizations that are not directly involved in this process. If you have further concerns, you may contact us at (888) 949–0045.

All rights reserved. No part of this activity may be translated, reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means or in any type of media form including electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording, broadcasting, or otherwise without prior permission from the publisher.

©Copyright 2008 by Physicians' Education Resource. No material may be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form, without written permission from the publisher.

All correspondence should be directed to:
Editor, Cancer Summaries & Commentaries
Physicians' Education Resource
3500 Maple Ave.
Suite 700
Dallas, TX 75219
Phone: (214) 367–3456
Fax: (214) 367–3304
E–mail: editor@pergrouplp.com

Download a Print Version of this Publication*

*Print format is for reference only

Educational Grants

An educational grant for this activity was provided by:


  1. Genentech BioOncology