Management of CNS Metastases in Patients with Breast Cancer

Advances in diagnosis and treatment have increased the survival of patients with advanced breast cancer; however, longevity is associated with an increased detection of brain metastases in these individuals. Important considerations in managing breast cancer that has metastasized to the brain are multifaceted and include molecular subtype, extent and volume of disease, performance status, symptomatic/asymptomatic presentation, and availability of reasonable systemic therapeutic options. Therefore, there is a need for understanding the role of multidisciplinary management and current guideline-recommended evaluation, treatment, and follow-up of breast cancer that has metastasized to the brain.

Target Audience

This program is designed to meet the educational needs of physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, PAs, pharmacists, and other health care professionals who manage patients with breast cancer.

Learning Objectives

Following this program, participants should be able to:

  • Discuss initial work-up and multidisciplinary evaluation of breast cancer that has metastasized to the brain.
  • Review systemic therapy options available to treat patients with brain metastases.

You may also be interested in

Archived NCCN Tumor Boards: Treatment Selection Strategies and Barriers to Clinical Care in Metastatic Breast Cancer
Clinicians need to understand the diverse and evolving SDOH landscape, especially as it relates to clinical trial access for individuals with metastatic breast cancer (mBC), and they need to consider potential strategies to address SDOH to ensure equitable care and improve overall outcomes for patients with mBC.
Recorded Presentation from the NCCN Pharmacy Updates: Novel Therapies for Treating ESR1 and RET-Fusion Mutations in Breast Cancer
It is important for clinicians to have an understanding of the current treatment approaches, especially for disease that has progressed and also demonstrated mutations such as ESR1 and RET-fusion.
Additional information
Supporters: 

This activity is supported by educational grants from AstraZeneca, Exact Sciences, Menarini-Stemline, Novartis, and Puma Biotechnology. This activity is supported through an independent educational grant from Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA. Supported by a grant from Pfizer Inc.

Course summary
Available credit: 
  • 0.75 AAPA Category 1 CME credit
  • 0.75 ACPE contact hours
  • 0.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
  • 0.75 ANCC contact hours
    • 0.50 ANCC Pharmacology Contact Hours
  • 0.75 Participation
Course opens: 
03/15/2025
Course expires: 
03/15/2026
Cost:
$0.00
Part of: 
Recorded Presentations from the NCCN 2025 Breast Cancer Congress with Updates from the 2024 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium

Sarah Sammons, MD
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

 

NCCN Continuing Education Disclosure Policy

It is the policy of NCCN that all planners, faculty, moderators, authors, reviewers and anyone involved in the planning and delivery of NCCN continuing education activities are expected to disclose ALL financial relationships they have had in the past 24 months with ineligible companies. The ACCME Standards for Integrity and Independence require that individuals who refuse to provide this information will be disqualified from involvement in the planning and implementation of accredited continuing education presented by NCCN. NCCN identifies, mitigates and discloses to learners all relevant financial relationships.

In addition, all content has been reviewed to ensure education promotes safe, effective patient care and does not promote the products or services of an ineligible company. Content, including any presentation of therapeutic options, is fair, balanced, evidence-based, scientifically accurate, and free of commercial bias and marketing. 

Definitions  

Ineligible Company: An ineligible company is any entity whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. 

Relevant Financial Relationships: Financial relationships of any dollar amount occurring within the past 24 months are defined as relevant if the educational content an individual can control is related to the business lines or products of an ineligible company. There is no minimum financial threshold. We ask for disclosure of ALL financial relationships with ineligible companies, regardless of the amount and regardless of the potential relevance of each relationship to the education.

Faculty Disclaimers  

All faculty for this continuing education activity are competent in the subject matter and qualified by experience, training, and/or preparation for the tasks and methods of delivery.

Faculty presentations may include discussion of off-label use. Faculty will disclose that the use in question is not currently approved by the FDA per the product labeling or marketing.

Faculty Disclosures

The faculty listed below have the following relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.  All of the relevant financial relationships listed for these individuals have been mitigated.

William J. Gradishar, MD
AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP: Honoraria; Scientific Advisor
Carrick Therapeutics, Inc.: Scientific Advisor
Daiichi- Sankyo Co.: Honoraria; Scientific Advisor
Eli Lilly and Company: Scientific Advisor
Stemline Therapeutics, Inc.: Scientific Advisor

Sarah Sammons, MD
AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP: Consulting Fee; Grant/Research Support
Daiichi- Sankyo Co.: Consulting Fee
Eli Lilly and Company: Consulting Fee; Grant/Research Support
Foundation Medicine, Inc.: Consulting Fee
Gilead Sciences, Inc.: Consulting Fee
Incyclix Bio, LLC: Consulting Fee
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Consulting Fee
Pfizer Inc.: Consulting Fee
Relay Therapeutics: Consulting Fee; Grant/Research Support
SeaGen: Grant/Research Support
Sermonix Pharmaceuticals: Consulting Fee; Grant/Research Support

NCCN Staff Disclosures

None of the planners for this educational activity have relevant financial relationships to disclose with ineligible companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.

image

In support of improving patient care, National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

Physicians
NCCN designates this enduring material for a maximum of 0.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Nurses
NCCN designates this educational activity for a maximum of 0.75 contact hour. This activity offers 0.5 pharmacotherapeutic contact hour for nurses.

Pharmacists
NCCN designates this knowledge-based continuing education activity for 0.75 contact hour (0.075 CEUs) of continuing education credit. UAN: JA4008196-0000-25-034-H01-P

Physician Assistants
NCCN has been authorized by the American Academy of PAs (AAPA) to award AAPA Category 1 CME credit for activities planned in accordance with AAPA CME Criteria. This activity is designated for 0.75 AAPA Category 1 CME credit. Approval is valid until March 15, 2026. PAs should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation.

Available Credit

  • 0.75 AAPA Category 1 CME credit
  • 0.75 ACPE contact hours
  • 0.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
  • 0.75 ANCC contact hours
    • 0.50 ANCC Pharmacology Contact Hours
  • 0.75 Participation

Price

Cost:
$0.00
Please login or register to take this course.

Required Hardware/software

To complete this activity, users will need:

  • A device with an Internet connection and sound playback capability
    • One of the two latest versions of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Safari
    • Internet Explorer is no longer supported
  • Adobe Reader or other PDF reader software for certificate viewing/printing