Breast Cancer: New Horizons, Current Controversies

Course Overview

Breast Cancer: New Horizons, Current Controversies is a comprehensive educational curriculum that encompasses the full range of breast cancer care. Topics include mechanisms of disease, improvements in diagnostic methods, treatment innovations, and management of breast cancer survivors. The primary goal of the course is to improve the knowledge, competence, and clinical skills of healthcare professionals who specialize in oncology. As such, the curriculum is well suited for medical, surgical, and radiation oncologists; breast and general surgeons; internists; physician assistants; nurse practitioners; oncology nurses; and other clinicians involved in the care of breast cancer patients.  

 The two-day course is taught by clinical experts in medical oncology, surgical oncology, radiation oncology, and pathology. Each year, the course faculty identify emerging practice gaps in breast oncology and address those gaps by translating the latest scientific knowledge into practical clinical applications. Course participants engage with the material through interactive learning formats, including group case discussions, question and answer sessions, and panel presentations. This interactive learning process assists healthcare professionals in integrating the latest evidence-based information on breast cancer screening, diagnosis, treatment, and long-term monitoring into their clinical practices.

 This year, we will be again offering an in-person program as well as a livestream for those who still do not feel comfortable traveling to Boston. Continuing with the livestream allows participants to engage with our faculty from the convenience of their own community, be it in Boston or across the globe. This hybrid format worked very well last year and is appropriate given both the range of potential attendees and persistent uncertainty over travel and large group gatherings.

 The timing of the course for summer 2025 is particularly fortuitous owing to the extraordinary progress happening in breast cancer. In the last two years, we have seen transformative breakthroughs in all types of breast cancer treatment:

• FDA approval of novel antibody-drug conjugates for the treatment of advanced hormone receptor-positive, HER2-positive, and triple-negative breast cancer, with new data showing benefit of these agents in tumor types beyond their initial application.
• FDA approval of the first-in-class oral SERD elacestrant in hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer, with companion diagnostic genomic testing for targetable ESR1 mutations.
• FDA approval of the AKT pathway inhibitor capivasertib in combination with fulvestrant for patients with hormone receptor-positive, PIK3CA/AKT/PTEN-mutant metastatic breast cancer and reported phase III data of another agent in this class (inavolisib).
• FDA approval of the CDK4/6 inhibitor abemaciclib in high-risk, early-stage hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, and mature data showing compelling benefits including overall survival for this class of drugs in advanced breast cancer, as well as preliminary reports of a second agent in this class (ribociclib) with adjuvant efficacy.
• FDA approval of a novel antibody-drug conjugate for patients with a HER2-low metastatic breast cancer.  

Who Should Attend

• Nurse Practitioners
• Primary Care Physicians
• Physician Assistants
• Nurses
• Pharmacists
• Specialty Physicians

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

• Apply knowledge of recent clinical data together with current expert recommendations to patient selection for new and emerging therapies for advanced breast cancer.  
• Select appropriate risk assessment modalities, where applicable, and make evidence-based therapeutic selections for women who are candidates for neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy and know the limitations of genomic testing. 
• Apply recent clinical data and expert recommendations to the management of women with breast cancer who are treated with mastectomy, including integration of surgical methods, breast reconstruction options, and post-mastectomy radiation if needed. 
• Assess current practices regarding symptom management during active treatment and in survivorship and consider the needs for fertility and lifestyle counseling among patients with breast cancer and survivors and improve current practices if needed. 
• Evaluate the genetic and personal risk factors of breast cancer and utilize appropriate genetic testing for hereditary breast cancer.