HER2+ Breast Cancer

Although recent findings suggest some patients with HER2-negative breast cancer would benefit from therapies directed against overexpression of the protein, two leading oncologists do not see an immediate impact on clinical practice as further validation is needed.

New research suggests that HER2-targeted drugs may actually have much broader applications, benefiting patients who are not designated HER2-positive by routine testing.

José Baselga, MD, PhD, Physician-in-Chief, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, discusses everolimus and the upcoming data from the BOLERO-3 trial in breast cancer.

Ron Bose, MD, PhD, from the Siteman Cancer Center, discusses the prevalence of HER2 gene mutations in patients diagnosed with breast cancer.

Patients with breast cancer who do not exhibit amplifications of the HER2 gene may still have mutations of HER2 that drive the progression of their cancer, suggesting that these mutations could serve as therapeutic targets.

Efforts to improve guidelines continue for HER2 testing and the evaluation of whether patients' tumors are estrogen receptor-positive and progesterone receptor-positive.

A new study found that patients with HER2-positive breast cancer who are receiving anti-HER2 therapy could prevent or delay resistance when a phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K) inhibitor is added during treatment.