Escalation and de-escalation in HER2 positive early breast cancer

Current standard for HER2+ early breast cancer patients includes chemotherapy and trastuzumab for 1 year. The purpose of this article is to review available evidence on escalated treatment strategies for high-risk patients and de-escalated treatments for patients at low risk of relapse or high risk of cardiac toxicity.

Recent results have led to the approval of two adjuvant escalated treatment strategies: pertuzumab and trastuzumab combined with chemotherapy for up to 1 year for high-risk patients; extension of adjuvant anti-HER2 treatment with 1 year of neratinib. However, these treatments are associated with increased costs and toxicity, therefore careful patients' selection is highly required. With regard to de-escalated treatments, the anthracycline-free regimen of adjuvant paclitaxel and 1 year trastuzumab has entered clinical practice for early-stage patients. One year of trastuzumab remains the standard; however, shorter trastuzumab could be an option for low-risk patients and in case of increased risk of cardiotoxocity. Chemotherapy-free regimens are attractive but deserve further evaluation.

There have been advances in treatment individualization for HER2+ early breast cancer patients. Integration of promising biomarkers into risk classification will further help progressing in the field.