February 2014

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive disease accounts for 20% to 25% of breast cancers, as represented by amplification of the HER2 gene and/or HER2 protein overexpression

The benefits of trastuzumab, pertuzumab, lapatinib, and ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) have all been well studied, but each drug also has its own set of complications and toxicities.

In this review, the role of radiotherapy in the management of brain metastases is considered from a historical perspective, in the context of other treatment modalities, and with regard to different radiotherapy techniques.

Inhibitory receptors such as anti-cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) and programmed death 1 (PD-1) expressed on tumor-specific T cells lead to compromised activation and suppressed effector functions such as proliferation, cytokine secretion, and tumor cell lysis.