Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 7, 2025

Building Up a High-throughput Screening Platform to Assess the Heterogeneity of HER2 Gene Amplification in Breast Cancers
11:34

Building Up a High-throughput Screening Platform to Assess the Heterogeneity of HER2 Gene Amplification in Breast Cancers

Published on: December 5, 2017

12.7K

Inactivating Amplified HER2: Challenges, Dilemmas, and Future Directions

Mark M Moasser1

  • 1Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California.

Cancer Research
|June 22, 2022
PubMed

Insights

Targeting HER2-amplified cancers with kinase inhibitors has lagged behind other oncogene-driven cancers. New mechanistic insights are needed to overcome modest monotherapy responses and improve HER2-targeted cancer treatments.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Pharmacology

Background:

  • Kinase inhibitor therapies have revolutionized cancer treatment by targeting driver oncogenes.
  • HER2-amplified cancers have not yet benefited from this approach, with HER2-targeting agents showing modest monotherapy activity.
  • Current clinical use of HER2-targeting antibodies and kinase inhibitors is in combination with chemotherapy, not as replacements.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the current understanding of HER2-targeted cancer treatment hypotheses.
  • To identify challenges and mechanistic insights hindering clinical translation.
  • To provide an opinion on the future potential of HER2-targeted therapies.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing scientific literature on HER2-targeted therapies.
  • Analysis of conflicting data sets and mechanistic conclusions.
  • Expert opinion on the current standing and future directions for HER2-driven cancers.

Main Results:

  • The inactivation of HER2 as a treatment strategy is mechanistically justified but clinically underachieved.
  • Conflicting data, dogma, and failed clinical translations have complicated research.
  • A convergence is emerging regarding the challenges and resilience of HER2 as a tumor driver.

Conclusions:

  • Significant mechanistic insights are required to improve HER2-targeted cancer therapies.
  • Overcoming the limitations of current HER2-targeting agents is crucial for clinical advancement.
  • Future research should focus on novel strategies to effectively inactivate HER2 and improve patient outcomes.

More Related Videos

Polymalic Acid-based Nano Biopolymers for Targeting of Multiple Tumor Markers: An Opportunity for Personalized Medicine?14:20

Polymalic Acid-based Nano Biopolymers for Targeting of Multiple Tumor Markers: An Opportunity for Personalized Medicine?

Published on: June 13, 2014

16.8K
Looking for Driver Pathways of Acquired Resistance to Targeted Therapy: Drug Resistant Subclone Generation and Sensitivity Restoring by Gene Knock-down08:59

Looking for Driver Pathways of Acquired Resistance to Targeted Therapy: Drug Resistant Subclone Generation and Sensitivity Restoring by Gene Knock-down

Published on: December 11, 2017

7.3K

Related Concept Videos

Mitogens and the Cell Cycle02:38

Mitogens and the Cell Cycle

Mitogens and their receptors play a crucial role in controlling the progression of the cell cycle. However, the loss of mitogenic control over cell division leads to tumor formation. Therefore, mitogens and mitogen receptors play an important role in cancer research. For instance, the epidermal growth factor (EGF) - a type of mitogen and its transmembrane receptor (EGFR), decides the fate of the cell's proliferation. When EGF binds to EGFR, a member of the ErbB family of tyrosine kinase...
6.6K
Targeted Cancer Therapies02:57

Targeted Cancer Therapies

The targeted cancer therapies, also known as “molecular targeted therapies,” take advantage of the molecular and genetic differences between the cancer cells and the normal cells. It needs a thorough understanding of the cancer cells to develop drugs that can target specific molecular aspects that drive the growth, progression, and spread of cancer cells without affecting the growth and survival of other normal cells in the body.
There are several types of targeted therapies against...
7.8K
Cancer-Critical Genes I: Proto-oncogenes01:33

Cancer-Critical Genes I: Proto-oncogenes

Genes usually encode proteins necessary for the proper functioning of a healthy cell. Mutations can often cause changes to the gene expression pattern, thereby altering the phenotype.
When the function of certain critical genes, especially those involved in cell cycle regulation and cell growth signaling cascades, gets disrupted, it upsets the cell cycle progression. Such cells with unchecked cell cycles start proliferating uncontrollably and eventually develop into tumors.
Such genes that act...
9.1K
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression03:03

mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression

The mammalian target of rapamycin or mTOR protein was discovered in 1994 due to its direct interaction with rapamycin. The protein gets its name from a yeast homolog called TOR. The mTOR protein complex in mammalian cells plays a major role in balancing anabolic processes such as the synthesis of proteins, lipids, and nucleotides and catabolic processes, such as autophagy in response to environmental cues, such as availability of nutrients and growth factors.
The mTOR pathway or the...
3.9K
Cancer-Critical Genes II: Tumor Suppressor Genes01:05

Cancer-Critical Genes II: Tumor Suppressor Genes

Genes usually encode proteins necessary for the proper functioning of a healthy cell. Mutations can often cause changes to the gene expression pattern, thereby altering the phenotype.
When the function of certain critical genes, especially those involved in cell cycle regulation and cell growth signaling cascades, gets disrupted, it upsets the cell cycle progression. Such cells with unchecked cell cycles start proliferating uncontrollably and eventually develop into tumors.
Such genes that act...
7.9K