ASCO Audio Journal of Oncology – June 4th 2006, from the ASCO Annual Meeting in Atlanta, June 2-6; in the company of Julie Gralow

Julie Gralow, from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, joins Derek Thorne to talk about the latest news from the ASCO annual meeting in Atlanta.

– In women with advanced HER2/neu positive breast cancer, lapatinib plus capecitabine is better than capecitabine alone and could be recommended for compassionate use. Charles Geyer, from Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, presented the data to the ASCO meeting in a Scientific Special Session
– Postmenopausal women with breast cancer may benefit from a switching strategy, where tamoxifen is replaced by exemestane after two to three years – that’s according to the Intergroup Exemestane Study, presented by Judith Bliss of the Institute of Cancer Research in London (Late Breaking Abstract 527)
– Is the higher bone loss associated with anastrozole a concern? Robert Coleman, of Sheffield University, presented bone mineral density data from the ATAC study, which compared anastrozole and tamoxifen in postmenopausal women (Abstract 511)