Posted on Jan 27, 2023

Happy new year! We got 2023 off to a great start with our MammaTyper® International Distributor Meeting on 12th and 13th of January in Venice. Our distributors brought a wealth of clinical and technical expertise from the UK, Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, Czech Republic, Romania, Israel and Greece. Our community benefitted from pathology and oncology talks from eminent clinicians, who presented the latest updates to the MammaTyper® evidence-base. Professor Abeer Shaaban attended the day: find out more about her work in breast pathology on our blog.

In Venice, we also spoke to ITN Business about the importance of accurately subtyping breast cancer tumours as part of its coverage for World Cancer Day on February 4th. The programme will be available shortly and we’ll share the footage on our website and via the next edition of our newsletter.
We are always looking for partners who share our enthusiasm for bringing innovative diagnostics to women’s health. If this sounds like you, get in touch for a discussion with Rich Hughes via rich@cercabiotech.com, we’d love to hear from you.

Industry round-up

Every month we collate a round-up of the most recent developments in breast cancer research and care, to provide an at-a-glance update for our subscribers. We hope you find it helpful and if you’re not already, you can subscribe to future editions  here.

In the news

Proton beam therapy trial launched: the PARABLE trial has opened in the UK. It is a phase III, multi-centre, RCT comparing proton beam therapy with tailored radiotherapy. Recruiting patients with breast cancer who have increased risk of radiotherapy-induced heart toxicity.  The trial will measure the average dose of radiotherapy delivered to the heart to predict long-term heart damage. Allowing for exploration of potential benefits of using proton beam therapy for long term heart health.

Threonine tyrosine kinase (TTK) inhibitor fast-tracked by the FDA: CFI-402257 a is a TTK that can be used as a monotherapy and in combination with fulvestrant (Faslodex) for  treating oestrogen receptor (ER)–positive/HER2-negative advanced breast cancer after disease progression. This access should help meet treatments for these breast cancer sub-types.

From the journals

New development in molecular targeting for breast cancer therapy: Researchers at the University of Manchester have discovered that the RAC1B protein can help breast cancer  become resistant to treatment, spread and return. It’s hoped that this early-stage discovery may eventually lead to new treatment development.

Lancet Oncology European Groundshot Commission on cancer: This brings together a wide range of cancer experts, and detailed new data on cancer research activity across Europe from the past 12 years. The authors emphasise that European research needs to be broadened to include such areas as prevention and early diagnosis; treatment modalities such as radiotherapy and surgery; and living beyond a cancer diagnosis.

Cochrane review of psychological interventions for breast cancer:  this systematic review concludes that varying psychological interventions may improve depression, anxiety, mood disturbance, stress and quality of life. Clinicians could focus on patients with pre‐existing levels of anxiety, stress, and depression because they appeared to benefit most from psychological interventions.  
And finally…

The number of people living with metastatic breast cancer is rising: a cancer researcher and consultant has estimated for the first time how many women are living with secondary breast cancer in England: approximately 57,000. This is higher than previous estimates and will be vital for planning and delivering appropriate cancer services.