New Options for Metastatic Breast Cancer

This program was presented as a regional meeting
for oncologists.

Release Date: January 2009
Expiration Date: December 2009
Estimated Time to Complete Activity: 50 minutes
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Posttest

I have read and understand the information presented on this page and agree to proceed with the educational activity.

Target Audience

This activity has been designed to meet the educational needs of oncology physicians caring for patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC).

Purpose

To review current treatment options and present novel treatment approaches for MBC.

Program Overview

It is estimated that more than 50,000 women will develop recurrent breast cancer or MBC in 2008. Several paradigm shifts in treatment approaches have occurred in recent years as new therapeutic targets have been identified and agents developed to exploit them. This program will provide an overview of the current understanding of these targets and include a discussion of targets that remain under investigation. A breast oncology thought leader will discuss optimization of patient outcomes by integrating novel chemotherapeutic and biologic therapies into treatment. A list of ongoing and accruing clinical trials that may be options for your patients will also be outlined. Attendees are encouraged to bring challenging cases and questions for expert discussion. The program will conclude with a question-and-answer session.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this program, participants should be better able to:

  • Review current standards of care for MBC
  • Identify new and investigational therapies and their associated targets
  • Describe recent advances in the treatment of MBC
  • Identify significant ongoing/accruing clinical trials involving patients with MBC
Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest

Postgraduate Institute for Medicine (PIM) assesses conflict of interest with its instructors, planners, managers, and other individuals who are in a position to control the content of CME activities. All relevant conflicts of interest that are identified are thoroughly vetted by PIM for fair balance, scientific objectivity of studies utilized in this activity, and patient care recommendations. PIM is committed to providing its learners with high quality CME activities and related materials that promote improvements or quality in healthcare and not a specific proprietary business interest of a commercial interest.

The faculty reported the following financial relationships or relationships to products or devices they or their spouse/life partner have with commercial interests related to the content of this CME activity:

See faculty disclosure for Edith A. Perez.

The planners and managers reported the following financial relationships or relationships to products or devices they or their spouse/life partner have with commercial interests related to the content of this CME activity:

Michael Bramwell reported no areas of conflict.

Lourdes Briz, BS, reported no areas of conflict.

Timothy J. DiChiara, PhD, reported no areas of conflict.

Ninotchka Doleyres, MPH, reported no areas of conflict.

Dorothy Dulko, PhD, RN, AOCNP-C, reported no areas of conflict.

Elisheva Hertz, BSN, RN, OCN®, reported no areas of conflict.

Madelyn T. Herzfeld, BSN, RN, OCN®, reported no areas of conflict.

Davecia Ragoonath-Cameron, MS, reported no areas of conflict.

Matthew Weeks, BA, reported no areas of conflict.

Jan Hixon, MSN, RN, reported no areas of conflict.

Trace Hutchison, PharmD, reported no areas of conflict.

Linda Graham, BSN, RN, reported no areas of conflict.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jointly sponsored by:

IMER

This activity is supported by an independent educational grant from
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.
Faculty

Edith A. Perez, MD (Chairperson)
Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville

Dr. Perez is the director of the Breast Clinic and the Cancer Clinical Study Unit at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, as well as a member of the Mayo Clinic Women’s Cancer Program Steering Committee. Dr. Perez received her medical degree from the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine in San Juan, and completed a residency in internal medicine at the Loma Linda University Medical Center in California. She has developed and is involved in a wide range of clinical trials exploring the use of new therapeutic agents for the treatment and prevention of breast cancer. She also has recently developed studies to evaluate the role of genetic markers in the development and aggressiveness of breast cancer. Dr. Perez has written more than 150 research articles in journals and books and is a frequent invited lecturer at national and international meetings each year.

Edith A. Perez, MD, reported no areas of conflict.

Accreditation Statements

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint sponsorship of Postgraduate Institute for Medicine (PIM) and Institute for Medical Education & Research (IMER). PIM is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Postgraduate Institute for Medicine designates this educational activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Safeguards Against Commercial Bias

IMER and PIM affirm that the content and format of its CME activities and related materials promote improvements and quality in healthcare and do not promote a specific proprietary business interest of a commercial entity. To this end, IMER and PIM employ several strategies to ensure the absence of commercial bias, including but not limited to review of all planned content for CME activities jointly-sponsored by IMER and PIM to ensure adherence to ACCME’s content validation statements and resolution of any actual or perceived conflict of interest that exist. We employ three metrics as we review your materials:

1. Fair balance

a.
 Recommendations or emphasis must fairly represent and be based on a reasonable and valid interpretation of the information available on the subject matter
b.
 No single product or service is overrepresented when other equal competing products or services are available for inclusion
2. Scientific objectivity of studies mentioned in the materials or used as the basis for content

3. Appropriateness of patient care recommendations made to learners

Privacy Policy

When you participate in a CME activity provided by Postgraduate Institute of Medicine ("PIM" or "we"), we ask you for your name, degree, affiliation, street address, telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address (the “Information”). We use that Information in the following ways:

We use the Information to grade your posttest and to send you a certificate of completion of the CME activity. If we use a third-party company to grade your posttest and issue certificates of completion, we will give the Information to that company for that purpose only.

For each CME activity that you take, you must complete an evaluation questionnaire. That questionnaire asks if you are willing to participate in a follow-up survey. If you answer yes, we will use your name and contact information to send you the survey.

We may use the Information to invite you to participate in other CME activities that PIM or its affiliates may offer.

On occasion, the commercial supporter of a CME activity will ask us for a list of the people who participated in that activity, so that it may document the first level of outcomes-based evaluation in CME (ie, who attended, which medical specialties/practices were represented, how this compares to the target audience, and whether the activity needs to be repeated because significant numbers of the target audience did not attend). In that event, we will provide the supporter with your name, title, and affiliation but we will request in writing that the supporter not contact you directly for any purpose.

If our company is acquired or merged into another company, we may make the Information available to the new owner/entity to use in the ways described above, to enable it to continue our business.

Any changes to our privacy policy will be posted on our Web site.

Method of Participation

There are no fees for participating and receiving CME credit for this activity. During the period January, 2009 through December, 2009, participants must 1) read the learning objectives and faculty disclosures; 2) study the educational activity; 3) complete the online posttest and evaluation form.

A statement of credit will be issued automatically only upon receipt of a completed activity evaluation form and a completed posttest with a score of 70% or better.

Disclosure of Unlabeled Use

This educational activity may contain discussion of published and/or investigational uses of agents that are not indicated by the FDA. PIM, IMER, and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company do not recommend the use of any agent outside of the labeled indications.

The opinions expressed in the educational activity are those of the faculty and do not necessarily represent the views of PIM, IMER, and/or Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. Please refer to the official prescribing information for each product for discussion of approved indications, contraindications, and warnings.

Disclaimer

Participants have an implied responsibility to use the newly acquired information to enhance patient outcomes and their own professional development. The information presented in this activity is not meant to serve as a guideline for patient management. Any procedures, medications, or other courses of diagnosis or treatment discussed or suggested in this activity should not be used by clinicians without evaluation of their patients’ conditions and possible contraindications on dangers in use, review of any applicable manufacturer’s product information, and comparison with recommendations of other authorities.

Media

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