Long-term follow-up data from pivotal studies of adjuvant trastuzumab in early breast cancer

Kristeleit, H., Parton, M., Beresford, M., Macpherson, I. R. , Sharma, R., Lazarus, L. and Kelleher, M. (2016) Long-term follow-up data from pivotal studies of adjuvant trastuzumab in early breast cancer. Targeted Oncology, 11(5), pp. 579-591. (doi: 10.1007/s11523-016-0438-5) (PMID:27181019) (PMCID:PMC5054055)

Abstract

The addition of adjuvant trastuzumab therapy for 1 year to standard chemotherapy significantly improved disease-free survival and overall survival versus chemotherapy alone in a number of pivotal early breast cancer studies. Here we review long-term follow-up data on the efficacy, cardiac safety, and general safety of trastuzumab in these pivotal studies. We also evaluate ongoing phase II/III adjuvant trials with newer HER2-targeted agents and the efficacy and safety of the recently developed subcutaneous (SC) formulation of trastuzumab in early breast cancer. Long-term follow-up data confirm the significant survival benefit afforded by the addition of trastuzumab to chemotherapy in patients with HER2-positive disease, with an acceptable safety profile. Long-term cardiac safety data suggest that the incidence of cardiac adverse events is maintained at a relatively low level with continued follow-up. At this present time, 1 year of trastuzumab treatment remains the standard of care in HER2-positive early breast cancer. Future adjuvant trastuzumab treatment strategies should focus on reducing cardiotoxicity, particularly in elderly patients, by identifying potential predictive biomarkers of cardiac dysfunction. Clinicians must also decide whether to omit trastuzumab in women who would achieve little benefit from treatment to avoid cardiotoxicity.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: MacPherson, Professor Iain
• Authors: Kristeleit, H., Parton, M., Beresford, M., Macpherson, I. R., Sharma, R., Lazarus, L., and Kelleher, M.
• Subjects: R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0254 Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology (including Cancer)
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Cancer Sciences
• Journal Name: Targeted Oncology
• Publisher: Springer
• ISSN: 1776-2596
• ISSN (Online): 1776-260X
• Published Online: 16 May 2016
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2016 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Targeted Oncology 11(5):579-591
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License