HER2+ Breast Cancer

EG12014, a biosimilar of the anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody trastuzumab, has received a marketing authorization from the European Commission for use in the European Union for the treatment of patients with HER2-positive breast and metastatic gastric cancer; these are the same indications that trastuzumab holds in the EU.

Terry P. Mamounas, MD, discusses surgical de-escalation strategies in the treatment of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.

Data from a real-world study in Japan showed that fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki displayed intracranial efficacy in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer harboring brain metastases and/or leptomeningeal carcinomatosis.

The addition of pyrotinib to trastuzumab and docetaxel led to a significant improvement in progression-free survival compared with placebo plus trastuzumab and docetaxel in patients with newly diagnosed, HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.

The combination of inetetamab, pertuzumab, paclitaxel, and carboplatin elicited responses with an acceptable safety profile when administered as neoadjuvant treatment in patients with locally advanced HER2-positive breast cancer.

Treatment with vic-trastuzumab duocarmazine demonstrated a trend toward numerically prolonged overall survival compared with physician’s choice of treatment in patients with pretreated HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.

Treatment with fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki led to sustained improvements in overall survival and progression-free survival vs physician’s choice of treatment in patients with previously treated HER2-low metastatic breast cancer, irrespective of hormone receptor status.

Fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki elicited higher rates of intracranial responses vs comparator therapies in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer with both stable and active brain metastases.

Francisco Javier Esteva, MD, PhD, discusses the management of early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer with a focus on de-escalation strategies, emphasizes the ongoing efforts to de-escalate chemotherapy without compromising effective treatments, and expands on the ongoing debate regarding the role of carboplatin in this setting.

Sneha Phadke, DO, MPH, expands on the investigation of trastuzumab deruxtecan as a possible treatment option for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer who have high-risk residual disease following neoadjuvant systemic therapy.

Lubna Chaudhary, MD, MS, discusses how findings from the various DESTINY-Breast trials affected the treatment landscape in HER2-positive breast cancer, the trials’ impact on the treatment arena, the evolving treatment landscape for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer, and the importance of staying updated on new drugs and clinical trials.

Lubna Chaudhary, MD, MS, discusses the ongoing investigation and utilization of trastuzumab deruxtecan in patients with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer and compared this agent’s efficacy with that of trastuzumab emtansine.

The European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has issued a positive opinion recommending marketing authorization of EirGenix’s biosimilar for trastuzumab for the treatment of patients with HER2-positive breast and metastatic gastric cancers.

Dionisia Quiroga, DO, PhD, discusses the emergence of the HER2-low categorization in breast cancer as well as current treatment options for patients with HER2-low disease.

Funda Meric-Bernstam, MD, discusses the design of the DESTINY-PanTumor02 trial, details the antitumor activity and safety of T-DXd in HER2-expressing solid tumors, and shares additional analyses that will be coming down the pike.

The safety profile of subcutaneous trastuzumab was consistent with the known profile of intravenous administration of the agent and there were no new concerns related to prolonged exposure in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.

A neoadjuvant treatment regimen consisting of HER2-directed conventional dendritic cell intratumoral therapy plus paclitaxel, trastuzumab, and pertuzumab elicited pathologic complete responses in patients with stage I to III HER2-positive breast cancer.

The novel HER2-targeted bispecific antibody zanidatamab in combination with docetaxel demonstrated efficacy with a manageable safety profile as first-line treatment in patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer.

Treatment with the all-oral triplet of tucatinib, letrozole, and palbociclib yielded clinically meaningful efficacy results and had an acceptable safety profile in patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.

The combination of tucatinib and ado-trastuzumab emtansine elicited an improvement in progression-free survival compared with placebo plus T-DM1 in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer who received previous treatment with a taxane and trastuzumab in any setting.

Nancy U. Lin, MD, discusses selecting between systemic vs local therapy for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer displaying central nervous system metastases.

Erika P. Hamilton, MD, discusses the role of trastuzumab deruxtecan in HER2-positive and HER2-low breast cancer; the evolution of CDK4/6 inhibitors in hormone receptor–positive disease; and how genetic testing can match patients with personalized therapies and support further precision medicine research.

Nicole O Williams, MD, discusses unmet needs for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer and potential future research directions in the space.

Ian E. Krop, MD, PhD, discusses the use of fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki across age groups in the DESTINY Breast trials in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.

Adrienne G. Waks, MD, spotlights the need to understand mechanisms of resistance to second-line HER2-positive breast cancer therapies, chemotherapy-free regimens with later-line treatment potential, and the future of HER2-positive disease management.