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Current trends in the treatment of HR+/HER2+ breast cancer

Charlene Kay1,2, Carlos Martínez-Pérez1,2, James Meehan1

  • 1Translational Oncology Research Group, MRC Institute of Genetics & Molecular Medicine, Western General Hospital, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH4 2XU, UK.

Future Oncology (London, England)
|March 17, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Hormone-positive, HER2-positive breast cancer treatment is evolving. Combining hormone therapy with targeted anti-HER2 drugs shows promise for long-term disease control without chemotherapy in select patients.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Breast Cancer Research
  • Translational Medicine

Background:

  • The optimal treatment for hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive (HR+/HER2+) breast cancer remains debated due to tumor subtype heterogeneity.
  • Some HR+/HER2+ tumors exhibit luminal A-like behavior, while others resemble non-luminal HER2+ cancers, complicating treatment strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review current clinical trials and past study results for HR+/HER2+ breast cancer.
  • To provide a basis for updated treatment recommendations for newly diagnosed HR+/HER2+ breast cancer patients.

Main Methods:

  • Review of recent clinical trials and previous studies on HR+/HER2+ breast cancer.
  • Evaluation of novel anti-HER2 therapies (neratinib, trastuzumab emtansine) and HR+ agents (oral selective estrogen receptor downregulators/degraders, CDK4/6 inhibitors like palbociclib) in combination.

Main Results:

  • Combination approaches using hormone therapy and targeted anti-HER2 agents without chemotherapy have demonstrated long-term disease control in certain HR+/HER2+ patient populations.
  • Ongoing trials are evaluating novel combinations of advanced therapies.

Conclusions:

  • Evidence suggests that combining hormone-based therapies with novel targeted anti-HER2 agents offers a promising non-chemotherapy treatment strategy for HR+/HER2+ breast cancer.
  • These findings support the development of personalized treatment recommendations based on tumor characteristics and emerging therapeutic options.
Keywords:
HER2+HR+/HER2+breast cancerclinical trialscombination treatmentemerging therapeuticsluminal HER2triple-positive breast cancer

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