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Systemic therapy for early‐stage HER2‐positive breast cancers: Time for a less‐is‐more approach?
Author(s) -
Paplomata Elisavet,
Nahta Rita,
O'Regan Ruth M.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/cncr.29060
Subject(s) - trastuzumab , medicine , breast cancer , oncology , chemotherapy , stage (stratigraphy) , human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 , cancer , hormone receptor , paleontology , biology
Trastuzumab‐based chemotherapy has dramatically improved outcomes for patients with all stages of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)‐positive breast cancer. Additional HER2‐directed agents that have recently been approved are also expected to improve outcomes. Patients with small, lymph node‐negative, HER2‐positive breast cancers who are treated with trastuzumab‐based chemotherapy demonstrate especially favorable responses, with 5‐year recurrence rates of <5%. In this review, recent data regarding response rates among patients with early‐stage HER2‐positive breast cancer treated with trastuzumab‐based chemotherapy are discussed. This review supports future studies of the possible omission of chemotherapy in a subset of patients with HER2‐positive cancers, specifically those that coexpress hormone receptors. Cancer 2015;121:517–526. © 2014 American Cancer Society .