A clinical trial shows that a next-generation targeted drug called trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1; Kadcyla) extends survival in women with HER2-positive breast cancers that progress despite other standard therapies. This drug combines two anticancer drugs – the HER2-targeted drug trastuzumab and the chemotherapy drug emtansine. The drug is designed to bind to the HER2 protein on cancer cells and directly deliver these drugs to the tumor, minimizing adverse effects to healthy tissue in the body.

The FDA approves T-DM1 for breast cancer in 2013

Researchers share the first encouraging findings on a new class of targeted drugs – PARP inhibitors – for difficult-to-treat "triple-negative" breast cancers and those that involve BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations. PARP inhibitors are designed to disable key enzymes that cancer cells use to repair DNA damage, including damage inflicted by chemotherapy, and to promote cancer cell death. They may also make cancer cells more sensitive to other chemotherapy agents. Triple-negative breast cancers lack receptors for estrogen, progesterone and HER2, and therefore do not respond to targeted drugs that block these proteins.

Further long-term, randomized clinical trials are needed to determine whether PARP inhibitors truly benefit patients with breast cancer, and if so, which specific types of breast tumors are most likely to respond to the drugs.

Studies link declines in breast cancer incidence in women aged 50 and older to decreased use of hormone replacement therapy involving estrogen and progestin. One study reports that the rate of new breast cancer cases declined as much as 13 percent between 2001 and 2003, though researchers suggest other factors could have also played a role, such as increased use of mammography. Until 2002, when researchers first identified this significantly increased breast cancer risk, hormone replacement therapy was commonly prescribed to relieve the symptoms of menopause, such as hot flashes and vaginal dryness.

A study of more than 42,000 women reports that digital mammography is more sensitive than traditional film mammography for women under age 50, who are more likely to have dense breast tissue, which is more difficult to assess. Digital mammography enables the radiologist to alter features such as brightness and contrast, improving the detection of abnormalities in breast tissue.

Docetaxel (Taxotere), a chemical cousin of paclitaxel (Taxol) that blocks cell division, is shown to decrease the risk of cancer recurrence by more than 25 percent and increase survival among women with operable breast cancer that has spread to the lymph nodes, compared to the previous standard therapy, fluorouracil. The FDA approval of docetaxel later the same year expands the arsenal of chemotherapy drugs for women with breast cancer.