High Hopes

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2013 Top Stories in Oncology: This Was the Year for HER2-Positive Breast Cancer

Dr. Kimberly L. Blackwell, M.D.: I personally think that we are going to see a lot less recurrent HER2-driven breast cancer, and that’s because we are now able to use highly effective antibodies, like trastuzumab and pertuzumab, in the curable or earlier-stage setting. We know that pertuzumab improves survival in the metastatic setting, and now that we are able to use it in our earlier settings, based on the neoadjuvant approval, I would hope that we’ll take a generalized cure rate of somewhere about 90% for all women facing HER2-positive breast cancer to an even higher level. These are pretty exciting times! At [the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium] this year, we saw a 97% long-term disease-free survival for small lymph node–negative HER2-driven breast cancers with the combination of paclitaxel and trastuzumab.2 That is among the best cure rates we’ve ever seen in early-stage breast cancer. So, I think that all of these highly effective drugs that have limited toxicity will hopefully cure more women facing HER2-positive breast cancer.

I really feel that no one needs to be afraid of breast cancer anymore, at least not HER2-positive breast cancer.

From PracticeUpdate.com.

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