Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 Mar;1(1):19-31.

Trastuzumab in the management of early and advanced stage breast cancer

Rupert Bartsch  1 , Catharina Wenzel, Guenther G Steger
Affiliations

Trastuzumab in the management of early and advanced stage breast cancer

Rupert Bartsch et al. Biologics. 2007 Mar.

Abstract

Trastuzumab is a monoclonal humanized antibody that has revolutionized the treatment of patients with Her2-positive breast cancer. Already well established in advanced stage disease, the substance was recently introduced in the adjuvant setting, reducing disease recurrences by more than 50% and mortality by approximately one third. Trastuzumab is a rationally designed substance which binds to cancer cells expressing the targeted antigen, and, by different mechanisms, causes tumor cell degradation. However, only one third of patients have an initial response to trastuzumab therapy, and the majority of initial responders demonstrate disease progression within 1 year of treatment initiation. It is therefore necessary to gain further insight into mechanisms of resistance, and develop ways to overcome those. In this article, the role of trastuzumab in early and advanced stage breast cancer is reviewed. We discuss current understandings of the specific tumor biology of Her2-positive breast cancer, and review the mechanism of action of trastuzumab. Further, we try to highlight possible mechanisms of resistance.

Keywords: Her2-positive breast cancer; monoclonal antibodies; trastuzumab.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Trials evaluating the role of trastuzumab in early stage breast cancer. Abbreviations: A, doxorubicin; C, cyclophosphamide; D, docetaxel; E, epidoxorubicin; F, 5-FU; P, paclitaxel; q3w, every 3 weeks; qw, weekly; RT, radiotherapy.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mechanism of action, trastuzumab, and lapatinib.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Akiyama T, Saito T, Ogawara H, et al. Tumor promoter and epidermal growth factor stimulate phosphorylation of the c-erbB-2 gene product in MKN-7 human adenocarcinoma cells. Mol Cell Biol. 1998;8:1019–26. - PMC - PubMed
    1. American College of Surgeons Oncology Group. [Accessed 10 June 2007];2007 [online] URL: http://www.acosog.org.
    1. American Cancer Society Facts and Figures. [Accessed 1 February 2007];2005 URL: http://www.cancer.org.
    1. Bargmann CI, Hung MC, Weinberg RA. The neu oncogene encodes an epidermal growth factor receptor-related protein. Nature. 1986;319:226–30. - PubMed
    1. Bartsch R, Fromm S, Rudas M, et al. Intensified local treatment and systemic therapy significantly increase survival in patients with brain metastases from advanced breast cancer – a retrospective analysis. Radiother Oncol. 2006b;80:313–7. - PubMed