[Comment] Early HER2-positive breast cancers: time for a new revolution?

The first results from trials of trastuzumab in patients with adjuvant HER2-positive breast cancers were rightly stated as revolutionary.1 Because of a striking improvement in the prognosis of this population, anti-HER2 drugs were regarded as the treatment backbone for this disease. The second revolution was to integrate the neoadjuvant setting as a model for the rapid and relevant assessment of new anti-HER2 treatment strategies in HER2-positive breast cancers.2 Therefore, next-generation trials have evolved in two directions addressing different questions: on one hand, the possibility to optimise HER2 blockade and improve outcomes for high-risk populations, and, on the other, the chance to de-escalate chemotherapy and reduce toxicity for low-risk patients.
Source: The Lancet Oncology - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Comment Source Type: research