Anna Berghof talks to Matteo Lambertini - Department of Medical Oncology, U.O.C. Clinica di Oncologia Medica, IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genova, Italy.The year 2019 has brought relevant new biological and clinical evidence to further improve the care of breast cancer patients. Regarding biological knowledge, in addition to the many important steps forward in enhancing the understanding of several aspects related to tumor biology and treatment resistance, more predictive biomarkers have entered clinical use. In addition to knowing the status of hormone receptors and HER2, other biomarkers should now be tested in different disease subtypes and clinical situations including PD-L1, PIK3CA mutations and germline BRCA mutations.The clinical management of breast cancer patients has also significantly changed. Important evidence has become available to further personalize the choices of the best chemotherapy, endocrine treatment and targeted therapy approaches in both the advanced and early settings. Importantly, for patients with advanced breast cancer including those treated in the first-line setting, overall survival improvements have finally been observed in all disease subtypes thanks to the availability of more effective targeted agents. Many upcoming translational and clinical data are expected in 2020 with a great promise of further changing clinical practice in the breast cancer field. This is the case also for the triple-negative subtype where more effective and targeted treatment options beyond chemotherapy are expected to enter clinical use and improve patients’ outcomes and quality of life.

Read the Abstract on the ESMO Open website: https://esmoopen.bmj.com/content/5/3/e000794