NEWS

Consensus Meeting to Focus on Adjuvant Therapy for Breast Cancer

Caroline McNeil

Some of breast cancer’s major and most-studied questions center on adjuvant therapy: Who does not need chemotherapy? How long should a patient take tamoxifen? Can HER2/neu status predict response to anthracyclines?

These and other key issues will be on the table at an upcoming consensus conference at the National Institutes of Health on Nov. 1–3. As at other NIH consensus conferences, researchers from around the country will make presentations to a panel of experts, who will then draft a consensus statement with recommendations for clinical practice.

Following more than 30 presentations, the expert panel, all from outside the NIH, will draft a consensus statement addressing the following questions:

• Which factors should be used to select systemic adjuvant therapy?

• For which patients should adjuvant hormonal therapy be recommended?

• For which patients should adjuvant chemotherapy be recommended? Which agents should be used and at what dose or schedule?

• For which patients should post-mastectomy radiotherapy be recommended?

• How do side effects and quality-of-life issues factor into individual decision-making about adjuvant therapy?

Those interested in attending the conference can register by going to the Web site at http://consensus.nih.gov/ or by sending an e-mail to breastcancer{at}prospectassoc.com. Registration is free. Additional information is available by calling (301) 592-3320.



             
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