HER2+ Breast Cancer

Brian Czerniecki, MD, PhD, discusses how patients with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer who later develop central nervous system metastases comprise a large population of all patients with breast cancer, and there continue to be an unmet need for this subgroup.

The FDA has approved a fixed-dose combination of pertuzumab (Perjeta) and trastuzumab (Herceptin) with hyaluronidase, administered via subcutaneous injection in combination with intravenous chemotherapy, for the treatment of early and metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer.

The HER2-selective TKI tucatinib (Tukysa) demonstrated potent antitumor activity alone and in combination with ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1; Kadcyla) in HER2-overexpressing breast cancer cell lines and xenograft models.

William R. Gwin III, MD, discusses the ongoing trial examining this novel combination and provided insight into the next steps for this research.

Sara M. Tolaney, MD, MPH, discusses the unmet need with regard to effectively preventing central nervous system recurrence in HER2-positive breast cancer.

Collectively, there are more options than ever in the space of HER2-positive breast cancer brain metastases, a significant advance for our hundreds and thousands of patients facing this challenging disease.

Aditya Bardia, MD, MPH, discusses how the antibody-drug conjugate sacituzumab govitecan-hziy can address the unmet need in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer and the toxicities seen with the therapy.

William R. Gwin III, MD, discusses the safety profile of alpha-tocopheryloxyacetic acid in combination with trastuzumab in recurrent HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.

Nancy U. Lin, MD, discusses updated findings from the phase 2 HER2CLIMB study in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer with brain metastases.

The FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee will no longer be meeting to review a Biologics License Application for margetuximab for the treatment of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.

Fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki (Enhertu) demonstrated continued benefit in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer who had stable, treated brain metastases at baseline.

Yeon Hee Park, MD, discusses the utility and benefit of fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki in HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, specifically in patients with central nervous system metastases.

Therapeutic options for pretreated HER2-positive breast cancer now include tucatinib (Tukysa) as part of a triplet regimen with a tolerable safety profile that promises improved quality of life.

The degree to which nature and nurture affect disease has long been debated in medicine, and it is an issue that esteemed breast cancer researcher and medical oncologist Joyce A. O’Shaughnessy, MD, has been working to unravel for her patients throughout a career that spans more than 30 years.

Tucatinib has been approved in Switzerland for use in combination with trastuzumab and capecitabine for patients with previously treated metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer.