The adjuvant treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer

About 15-20% of patients with early stage breast cancer present with tumors that have overexpression or amplification of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) gene. Before 2005, these individuals had an increased risk of recurrence and death, but since then their outcomes have substantially improved with the adoption in most countries of adjuvant trastuzumab as a standard component of therapy for HER2-positive early-stage breast cancer. Consequently, access to high-quality and accurate HER2 testing methods is critical to accurately determine HER2 status, guide treatment decisions, and ultimately improve clinical outcomes. In 2012, the humanized monoclonal anti-HER antibody trastuzumab was the only approved HER2-targeted therapy in the adjuvant setting. Data from the first generation of trials combining it with various chemotherapy regimens showed significant improvements in disease-free and overall survival (DFS/OS). Based on results from five randomized clinical trials, a trastuzumab-containing regimen for up to 1 year is now considered standard for all patients with HER2-positive tumors larger than 1 cm in size who would have fulfilled eligibility to those studies, and this recommendation is sometimes extended to patients with stage I tumors greater than 0.5 cm (T1b). Second generation adjuvant studies with other HER2-targeted agents like lapatinib and pertuzumab are ongoing, and newer drugs like T-DM1 and neratinib are being actively tested in the metastatic setting.