HER2+ Breast Cancer

Ruth M. O'Regan, MD, discusses two of her studies in HER2-positive breast cancer presented at ASCO 2015.

Francisco J. Esteva, MD, PhD, professor, Department of Medicine, associate director, Clinical Investigation Perlmutter Cancer Center, director, Breast Medical Oncology Program, NYU Langone Medical Center, discusses the efficacy of T-DM1 in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.

Treatment with neratinib immediately following adjuvant trastuzumab plus chemotherapy modestly improved invasive disease-free survival against placebo at the cost of low-grade diarrhea in almost all patients with HER2-positive early-stage breast cancer.

In the phase III PALOMA-3 trial, adding palbociclib to standard fulvestrant more than doubled progression-free survival in pretreated patients with HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer.

In a recent interview with AJHO, Sara A. Hurvitz, MD, discusses the evolving treatment paradigm of HER2-positive breast cancer and what the future might hold.

Mark D. Pegram, MD, director, Breast Cancer Oncology Program, Stanford Cancer Institute, discusses contemporary sequencing of therapies for HER2-positive breast cancer.

As the field evolves, it is likely that HER2-directed agents will be used to an increasing extent instead of conventional chemotherapy, further reducing toxicity.

By targeting the HER2 protein's ability to transform cells, therapies such as trastuzumab (Herceptin) and pertuzumab (Perjeta) have significantly extended the survival of women with HER2-positive breast cancer. However, major treatment challenges still remain for this breast cancer subtype, according to Ruth Lupu, PhD, professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at Mayo Clinic.

OncLive spoke with Elizabeth A. Mittendorf, MD, PhD, to learn more about the PRESENT trial and the potential impact of nelipepimut-S in breast cancer.

Elizabeth A. Mittendorf, MD, PhD, associate professor, Department of Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses nelipepimut-S (NeuVax) and a proposed trial for patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).

MM-302, a novel antibody-drug conjugate that specifically targets cancer cells overexpressing the HER2 receptor, showed signs of clinical activity in heavily pretreated patients with metastatic, HER2-positive breast cancer.

Gary L. Johnson, PhD, discusses how BET bromodomain inhibitors could offer a potential solution to lapatinib resistance in patients with HER2-postive breast cancer.

Patients with advanced cancers of the pancreas or prostate, or where progression to this state occurs later in the course of the illness, should have tumor or germline testing performed looking for the presence of a BRCA mutation.

The role of mTOR inhibition in breast cancer is evolving, and ongoing studies are evaluating biomarkers that will identify the patients who will benefit.