ABC7 Consensus: Assessment by a German Group of Experts.

Background: The "International Consensus Conference for Advanced Breast Cancer" was initiated more than 10 years ago. The rationale was to standardize treatment of advanced breast cancer (ABC) based on available evidence and to ensure that all ABC patients worldwide receive adequate treatment and access to new therapies. Topics of ABC7: The 7th International Consensus Conference for ABC (ABC7) took place from November 9 to 11, 2023 - as in previous years in Lisbon/Portugal. ABC7 focused not only on metastatic disease but also on locally advanced and inflammatory breast cancer. Special topics were the management of oligometastatic disease, leptomeningeal disease, brain metastases, and pregnant women with ABC. Due to the current situation worldwide, there was a special interest to patients living in conflict zones. As in previous years, patient advocates from around the world were integrated into the ABC conference and had a major input to the consensus. Rationale for the Manuscript: A German breast cancer expert panel comments on the voting results of the ABC7 panelists regarding their relevance for routine clinical practice in Germany. As with previous meetings, the ABC7 votes focused on modified or new statements. Regarding the statements not modified for the ABC7 consensus, they are discussed in the published manuscript from 2021 in which the German experts commented on the ABC6 consensus. The German comments are always based on the current recommendations of the "Breast Committee" of the Gynecological Oncology Working Group (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Gynäkologische Onkologie, AGO Mamma).

ABC6 Consensus: Assessment by a Group of German Experts.

Background: The first International Consensus Conference for Advanced Breast Cancer (ABC1) took place 10 years ago in November 2011. The rationale was - and still is - to standardize treatment of advanced breast cancer (ABC) based on the available evidence and to ensure that worldwide all breast cancer patients receive adequate treatment and access to new therapies. Rationale for the Manuscript: The 6th International Consensus Conference for ABC (ABC6) took place from November 4 to 6, 2021 and was the first in a purely online format, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the present manuscript, a working group of German breast cancer experts comments on the voting results of the ABC6 panelists regarding their applicability for routine clinical practice in Germany. Method: The ABC6 votes mainly include modified or new statements. With regard to all statements not modified for the ABC6 consensus, the German experts refer to the published paper of the ABC5 consensus. The German experts base their comments on the current recommendations of the Breast Committee of the Gynecological Oncology Working Group (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Gynäkologische Onkologie, AGO Mamma). Topics: ABC6 focused on new treatment options and their implications for clinical practice. Optimal therapy sequencing for example was one of the issues. To solve the challenge of a more individualized treatment, precision medicine is fundamental. Oligometastatic disease, brain metastases and adequate supportive and palliative care were also addressed. Of special interest was the treatment of inoperable locally advanced breast cancer, which was discussed as a separate topic. As in previous years, patient advocates from around the world were an integral part of the ABC6 conference and had a major input into the consensus.

Assessment of Quality of Life in Postmenopausal Women with Early Breast Cancer Participating in the PACT Trial: The Impact of Additional Patient Information Material Packages and Patient Compliance.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer patients' self-understanding of their disease can impact their quality of life (QoL); the relationship between compliance and QoL is poorly understood. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The Patient's Anastrozole Compliance to Therapy (PACT) program, a prospective, randomized study, investigated the effect of additional patient information material (IM) packages on compliance with adjuvant aromatase inhibitor (AI) therapy in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive early breast cancer. The QoL subanalysis presented here examined the impact of IM packages on QoL and the association between QoL and compliance. European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BR23 questionnaires were completed at baseline, 12 and 24 months, or study termination to assess health-related QoL and disease-related symptoms. RESULTS: Of the 4,844 patients randomized to standard therapy or standard therapy + IM packages (1:1), 4,253 were available for QoL analysis. No difference in QoL was observed between groups at baseline. IM packages did not have a statistically significant impact on patient QoL at the 12- or 24-month follow-up. Compliant patients experienced improvement in multiple items across the QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BR23 scales at 12 months. However, those results should be interpreted carefully due to limitations in the statistical analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Provision of IM packages did not influence patients' QoL or satisfaction with care during AI therapy. Compliant patients appear to experience improved QoL compared to noncompliant patients, perhaps indicating a more self-empowered perception of their condition.

International Consensus Conference for Advanced Breast Cancer, Lisbon 2019: ABC5 Consensus - Assessment by a German Group of Experts.

The 5th International Consensus Conference for Advanced Breast Cancer (ABC5) took place on November 14-16, 2019, in Lisbon, Portugal. Its aim is to standardize the treatment of advanced breast cancer based on the available evidence and to ensure that all breast cancer patients worldwide receive adequate treatment and access to new therapies. This year, the conference focused on developments and study results in the treatment of patients with hormone receptor-positive/HER2-negative breast cancer as well as precision medicine. As in previous years, patient advocates from around the world were integrated into the ABC conference and had seats on the ABC consensus panel. In the present paper, a working group of German breast cancer experts comments on the results of the on-site ABC5 consensus votes by ABC panelists regarding their applicability for routine treatment in Germany. These comments take the recommendations of the Breast Committee of the Gynecological Oncology Working Group (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Gynäkologische Onkologie; AGO) into account. The report and assessment presented here pertain to the preliminary results of the ABC5 consensus. The final version of the statements will be published in Annals of Oncology and The Breast.

ABC4 Consensus: Assessment by a German Group of Experts.

The Advanced Breast Cancer Fourth Consensus (ABC4) on diagnosis and treatment of advanced breast cancer (ABC) again took place in Lisbon, on November 2-4, 2017, and was chaired by Fatima Cardoso, MD, PhD. This year's contents focused very much on new developments in the treatment of ABC. For example, the significance of inhibition of cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) in hormone receptor (HR)-positive ABC, of dual antibody blockade in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive ABC, and of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibition in triple-negative ABC, as well as the potential therapeutic consequences, were discussed. Other key issues were BRCA-associated breast cancer, treatment of brain metastases, and personalized therapy decision-making using molecular testing (so-called 'precision medicine'). As in past years, an important objective of the ABC conference was cooperation with representatives of patient organizations from around the world. This cooperation was further intensified during the ABC4. Following the main conference, the 'Global Alliance' was founded, with the goal of publicizing and coordinating measures necessary worldwide from the patient advocates' standpoint. - The ABC consensus inevitably cannot accommodate country-specific needs, due to the truly global expert panel. Therefore, a working group of German breast cancer experts commented - as in the past years - on the on-site voting results by the ABC panelists upon which the final ABC4 consensus will be based, with particular consideration of the German guidelines on diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer for everyday treatment in Germany.

4th International Consensus Conference on Advanced Breast Cancer (ABC4), Lisbon, November 4, 2017 : ABC4 Consensus: Assessment by a Panel of German Experts.

The fourth international advanced breast cancer consensus conference (ABC4) on the diagnosis and treatment of advanced breast cancer (ABC) headed by Professor Fatima Cardoso was once again held in Lisbon on November 2 - 4, 2017. To simplify matters, the abbreviation ABC will be used hereinafter in the text. In clinical practice, the abbreviation corresponds to metastatic breast cancer or locally far-advanced disease. This year the focus was on new developments in the treatment of ABC. Topics discussed included the importance of CDK4/6 inhibition in hormone receptor (HR)-positive ABC, the use of dual antibody blockade to treat HER2-positive ABC, PARP inhibition in triple-negative ABC and the potential therapeutic outcomes. Another major area discussed at the conference was BRCA-associated breast cancer, the treatment of cerebral metastasis, and individualized treatment decisions based on molecular testing (so-called precision medicine). As in previous years, close cooperation with representatives from patient organizations from around the world is an important aspect of the ABC conference. This cooperation was reinforced and expanded at the ABC4 conference. A global alliance was founded at the conclusion of the consensus conference, which aims to promote and coordinate the measures considered necessary by patient advocates worldwide. Because the panel of experts was composed of specialists from all over the world, it was inevitable that the ABC consensus also reflected country-specific features. As in previous years, a team of German breast cancer specialists who closely followed the consensus voting of the ABC panelists in Lisbon and intensively discussed the votes has therefore commented on the consensus in the context of the current German guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer 1 ,  2 used in clinical practice in Germany. The ABC consensus is based on the votes of the ABC panelists in Lisbon.

ABC3 Consensus: Assessment by a German Group of Experts.

The Advanced Breast Cancer Third International Consensus Conference on the diagnosis and treatment of advanced breast cancer took place in Lisbon, Portugal, on November 5-7, 2015. This year's conference (ABC3) was focused on the treatment of metastatic breast cancer (stage IV), as it was 4 years ago at the first consensus meeting (ABC1). A matter of particular interest was the patients' perspective. Thus, patient-relevant issues were addressed by the consensus discussions, such as those on treatment goals, quality of life, care of long-term survivors ('survivorship issues'), and coping with disease-related symptoms and the side effects of treatment. Further important issues on the agenda were the use of standardized instruments for the assessment of individual treatment success ('patient-reported outcome measures') and the evaluation of the benefit of novel drugs (e.g. the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale). Diagnosis and treatment of inoperable locally advanced breast cancer had already been discussed 2 years earlier at the ABC2 Consensus and were not dealt with in the framework of this year's ABC3 Consensus. With regard to country-specific peculiarities, which unavoidably found their way into the ABC Consensus, a working group of German breast cancer experts commented on the voting results of the ABC panelists. As for the past consensus, the group specially considered the German guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer (AGO (Gyneco-Oncology Working Group), S3, DGHO (German Society of Hematology and Medical Oncology)) in order to adapt the ABC3 consensus for everyday therapy in Germany.