SABCS 2017: lifestyle factors, hormone receptor-positive advanced disease, liquid biopsies, and prognosis

This article reviews the clinically most relevant presentations at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) 2017 on the topics lifestyle factors, hormone receptor-positive advanced disease, liquid biopsies, and prognosis. In a retrospective analysis of the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study, a reduction in the body mass index (BMI) of at least 5% within 3 years significantly reduced the risk of breast cancer compared to women with a stable weight (HR 0.77; 95% CI 0.78–0.98). In the MONALEESA-7 trial investigating ribociclib or placebo in combination with endocrine therapy as first-line treatment in pre- and perimenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2)-negative metastatic breast cancer, a significantly longer progression-free survival was shown for patients treated with ribociclib compared to the placebo group (23.8 vs. 13.0 months; HR 0.55; 95% CI 0.43–0.72; P < 0.001). In a pooled toxicity and efficacy analysis of elderly women treated with a cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 (CDK4/6) inhibitor in combination with an aromatase inhibitor in first-line, toxicities of higher grade were more common in elderly compared to younger patients, despite comparable efficacy. And the Clinical Treatment Score post-5 years (CTS5), accurately estimated the risk of late recurrence after 5 years of adjuvant endocrine treatment using routinely available clinical parameters.