Research needs in breast cancer.
New research questions emerge as medical needs continue to evolve and as we improve our understanding of cancer biology and treatment of malignancies. Although significant advances have been made in some areas of breast cancer research resulting in improvements in therapies and outcomes over the last few decades, other areas have not benefited to the same degree and we continue to have many gaps in our knowledge. This article summarizes the 12 short and medium-term clinical research needs in breast cancer deemed as priorities in 2016 by a panel of experts, in an attempt to focus and accelerate future research in the most needed areas: (i) de-escalate breast cancer therapies in early breast cancer without sacrificing outcomes; (ii) explore optimal adjuvant treatment durations; (iii) develop better tools and strategies to identify patients with genetic predisposition; (iv) improve care in young patients with breast cancer; (v) develop tools to speed up drug development in biomarker-defined populations; (vi) identify and validate targets that mediate resistance to chemotherapy, endocrine therapy and anti-HER2 therapies; (vii) evaluate the efficacy of local-regional treatments for metastatic disease; (viii) better define the optimal sequence of treatments in the metastatic setting; (ix) evaluate the clinical impact of intra-patient heterogeneity (intra-tumor, inter-tumor and inter-lesion heterogeneity); (x) better understand the biology and identify new targets in triple-negative breast cancer; (xi) better understand immune surveillance in breast cancer and further develop immunotherapies; and (xii) increase survivorship research efforts including supportive care and quality of life.
Breast Unit, Champalimaud Clinical Centre, Lisbon, Portugal.
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F
Cardoso
Breast Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Munich (LMU), Munich, Germany.
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N
Harbeck
School of Medicine, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
C H
CH
Barrios
Department of Oncology and Pathology, Karolinska Institutet and University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
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J
Bergh
Breast Cancer Unit, Ramon y Cajal University Hospital, Madrid.|Department of Medical Oncology, Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO), Barcelona, Spain.
J
J
Cortés
Department of Internal Medicine, NK Basile Cancer Institute American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon.
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N
El Saghir
Division of Cancer Medicine, Peter MacCallum Cancer Center, St Vincent's Hospital, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
P A
PA
Francis
Chief Executive Officer, American Society of Clinical Oncology, Alexandria, USA.
C A
CA
Hudis
Center of Breast Oncology, Cancer Institute Hospital, Koto-Ku, Tokyo, Japan.
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S
Ohno
Division of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston.
A H
AH
Partridge
Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, USA.
G W
GW
Sledge
Breast Unit, Royal Marsden Hospital, London, UK.
I E
IE
Smith
Department of Medical Oncology, BC Cancer Agency, Vancouver, Canada.
K A
KA
Gelmon
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D035843:Biomedical Research; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D058996:Quality Improvement; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor
breast cancer; clinical research; medical needs