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Review
. 2021 Sep:17 Suppl 6:3-12.
doi: 10.1111/ajco.13655.

The management of HER2-positive early breast cancer: Current and future therapies

Julia Chen  1   2 , Maree Colosimo  3 , Elgene Lim  1   2
Affiliations
Review

The management of HER2-positive early breast cancer: Current and future therapies

Julia Chen et al. Asia Pac J Clin Oncol. 2021 Sep.

Abstract

Advances in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-directed therapies have revolutionised the care of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer. While adjuvant trastuzumab in combination with chemotherapy has dramatically improved the prognosis for patients with early-stage disease, up to a quarter of patients will develop recurrent disease. The standard-of-care treatment paradigm has evolved with the introduction of newer HER2-directed therapies and increasing use of neoadjuvant systemic therapy, the latter providing us with important functional data to HER2-directed therapies and impacting subsequent adjuvant therapy decisions. However, these new strategies come at a cost of increased toxicity and economic burden, and only a subset of patients benefit from such approaches. Thus, ongoing work is required to identify predictive biomarkers of response, to de-escalate treatment in patients who may do just as well with less therapy, and new therapeutic approaches for patients who do not respond to currently used therapies. In this review, we will examine the current therapeutic landscape, summarise the latest evidence, and list the current treatment algorithms for early stage HER2-positive breast cancer.

Keywords: HER2 positive; HER2-directed therapy; adjuvant therapy; breast cancer; neoadjuvant therapy.

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References

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