My onc (Cleveland Clinic) is going. He seems very excited to hear what they have to say.

....been counting the days...

Adjuvant treatment of premenopausal women with endocrine-responsive early breast cancer: Design of the TEXT and SOFT trials.

Authors

Regan MM, et al. Show all

Regan MM, Pagani O, Fleming GF, Walley BA, Price KN, Rabaglio M, Maibach R, Ruepp B, Coates AS, Goldhirsch A, Colleoni M, Gelber RD, Francis PA; International Breast Cancer Study Group (IBCSG) and the SOFT and TEXT Investigators.

Journal

Breast. 2013 Dec;22(6):1094-100. doi: 10.1016/j.breast.2013.08.009. Epub 2013 Oct 2.

Affiliation

International Breast Cancer Study Group Statistical Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: mregan@jimmy.harvard.edu.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: In 2003 the International Breast Cancer Study Group (IBCSG) initiated the TEXT and SOFT randomized phase III trials to answer two questions concerning adjuvant treatment for premenopausal women with endocrine-responsive early breast cancer: 1-What is the role of aromatase inhibitors (AI) for women treated with ovarian function suppression (OFS)? 2-What is the role of OFS for women who remain premenopausal and are treated with tamoxifen?

METHODS: TEXT randomized patients to receive exemestane or tamoxifen with OFS. SOFT randomized patients to receive exemestane with OFS, tamoxifen with OFS, or tamoxifen alone. Treatment was for 5 years from randomization.

RESULTS: TEXT and SOFT successfully met their enrollment goals in 2011. The 5738 enrolled women had lower-risk disease and lower observed disease-free survival (DFS) event rates than anticipated. Consequently, 7 and 13 additional years of follow-up for TEXT and SOFT, respectively, were required to reach the targeted DFS events (median follow-up about 10.5 and 15 years). To provide timely answers, protocol amendments in 2011 specified analyses based on chronological time and median follow-up. To assess the AI question, exemestane + OFS versus tamoxifen + OFS, a combined analysis of TEXT and SOFT became the primary analysis (n = 4717). The OFS question became the primary analysis from SOFT, assessing the unique comparison of tamoxifen + OFS versus tamoxifen alone (n = 2045). The first reports are anticipated in mid- and late-2014.

CONCLUSIONS: We present the original designs of TEXT and SOFT and adaptations to ensure timely answers to two questions concerning optimal adjuvant endocrine treatment for premenopausal women with endocrine-responsive breast cancer. Trial Registration TEXT: Clinicaltrials.govNCT00066703 SOFT: Clinicaltrials.govNCT00066690.

Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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So far, the good news is that there were FEWER recurrences than expected....The bad news is they extended the cut off date for preliminary information....They were originally hoping for late 2013....

Yes.  There were fewer overall recurrences in all the groups...so...as my oncologist said, a few weeks ago,....it might just take a very long time to reach statistical significance since it takes so long for those with great prognostics to recur.  I hadn't thought about it until he mentioned that to me....but it certainly made a lot of sense.  So I'm not expecting anything earth shattering to occur, nor groundbreaking treatment changes to occur in the coming year or two....

Hey Baseball fan - My onc from the Cleveland Clinic is going too. He attends every year - I guess the conference is really one of the best around.

Nope - Kenneth Weiss. I was going to be really shocked if it was the same guy because I met Weiss because he was my dad's onc, and then when I was diagnosed my surgeon said - I already call the oncologist and he's making room in his schedule to see you this afternoon. Then I walked in and it was my dad's onc. They my good friend since I was like 3 years old was diagnosed two days after I was - her onc- Weiss.

That's a good idea. I really like the CC; you're the first person I've met on a message board that goes there too. : )

http://www.onclive.com/conference-coverage/sabcs-2013/SABCS-2013-Preview-Breast-Cancer-Diagnosis-and-Treatment

SABCS 2013 Preview: Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment

"Dec. 9, 2011 (San Antonio) -- A drug given to protect bones during breast cancer treatment extended the lives of young women with the disease, researchers report.

In a study of more than 1,800 premenopausal women, those given the bone-strengthening drug Zometa along with their cancer drugs were 37% less likely to die over a seven-year period than those who received standard therapy alone.

In 2008, the same researchers reported that women who got Zometa were less likely to have their cancer come back. At that point, the women had been followed for four years since starting treatment."Now, with seven years of follow-up..."

All about Dr. Gnant, who IMHO is among the "best."

http://www.cancerworld.org/Articles/Issues/31/July-August-2009/cover-story/10/Michael-Gnant-pushing-the-boundaries.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/breast-cancer-conference-some-treatments-can-be-skipped/

Breast cancer conference: Some treatments can be skipped

http://www.sabcs.org/PressReleases/Documents/2013/b5471154c8455fa6.pdf

Hi all! As part of our NEW podcast program, we're excited to bring you our premier podcast: a summary of yesterday's research highlights from the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium 2013! Breastcancer.org medical advisor Brian Wojciechowski, M.D. and senior editor Jamie DePolo explain the latest news. Listen to the podcast. -- Lasts about 25 minutes.

The news that recurrence stats are lower than expected in the ovarian function + endocrine therapy study sounds encouraging. It could point to a general trend thanks to better treatment etc. We have a prognosis discussion going in the stage 3 forum, and especially for our stage, the stats are all over the place, depending on whom you ask and where you look. Some of it is bound to be related to the dates of those stats.

The latest podcast:

Listen to the December 12 updates from the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium! In this edition, we fill you in on the latest research about Arimidex (chemical name: anastrazole) for reducing the risk of a primary breast cancer, sticking to your aromatase inhibitor regimen, strength training and aerobics for the relief of aromatase inhibitor-induced joint pain relief, and survival improvements with bisphosphonates after early breast cancer. Breastcancer.org medical advisor Brian Wojciechowski, M.D. and senior editor Jamie DePolo explain the latest news.

Running time: 27:16