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Review
. 2022 Aug 6;14(15):3824.
doi: 10.3390/cancers14153824.

HER2 Inhibition in Gastric Cancer-Novel Therapeutic Approaches for an Established Target

Caroline Fong  1 , Ian Chau  1
Affiliations
Review

HER2 Inhibition in Gastric Cancer-Novel Therapeutic Approaches for an Established Target

Caroline Fong et al. Cancers (Basel). .

Abstract

Gastric cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths globally. Human epidermal growth receptor 2 (HER2) overexpression of HER2 gene amplification is present in 20% of gastric cancers and defines a subset amenable to HER2-directed therapeutics. The seminal ToGA study led to routine use of the monoclonal antibody trastuzumab in conjunction to platinum-fluoropyridimine first-line chemotherapy for HER2-positive gastric cancers as standard-of-care. Although limited progress was made in the decade following ToGA, there is now an abundance of novel therapeutic approaches undergoing investigation in parallel. Additionally, new data from randomised trials have indicated efficacy of the antibody-drug conjugate trastuzumab deruxtecan in chemorefractory patients and increased responses with the addition of first-line immune checkpoint blockade to trastuzumab and chemotherapy. This review will outline the data supporting HER2 targeting in gastric cancers, discuss mechanisms of response and resistance to HER2-directed therapies and summarise the emerging therapies under clinical evaluation that may evolve the way we manage this subset of gastric cancers in the future.

Keywords: HER2; antibody-drug conjugate; gastric cancer; immunotherapy; trastuzumab; trastuzumab deruxtecan.

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Conflict of interest statement

C.F.: Honoraria—Bristol Myers Squibb. I.C.: Advisory Board: Eli-Lilly, Bristol Myers Squibb, MSD, Bayer, Roche, Merck-Serono, Five Prime Therapeutics, Astra-Zeneca, OncXerna, Pierre Fabre, Boehringer Ingelheim, Incyte, Astellas, GSK, Sotio, Eisai, Daiichi Sankyo and Taiho. Research funding: Eli Lilly and Janssen-Cilag; Honoraria: Eli Lilly, Eisai and Servier.

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