scholarly journals Do HER-2 positive metastatic breast cancer patients benefit from the use of trastuzumab beyond disease progression? A mono-institutional experience and systematic review of observational studies

The Breast ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 499-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandra Fabi ◽  
Giulio Metro ◽  
Gianluigi Ferretti ◽  
Diana Giannarelli ◽  
Serena Di Cosimo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Metastatic Breast Cancer ◽  
Disease Progression ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Observational Studies ◽  
Metastatic Breast ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Institutional Experience ◽  
Her 2

Circulating Tumor Cells in HER-2 Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients Treated with Trastuzumab and Chemotherapy

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raquel A. Nunes ◽  
Xiaochun Li ◽  
Soonmo Peter Kang ◽  
Harold Burstein ◽  
Lisa Roberts ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Metastatic Breast Cancer ◽  
Treatment Response ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Circulating Tumor Cells ◽  
Peripheral Blood ◽  
Metastatic Breast ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Her 2

The detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in peripheral blood may have important prognostic and predictive implications in breast cancer treatment. A limitation in this field has been the lack of a validated method of accurately measuring CTCs. While sensitivity has improved using RT-PCR, specificity remains a major challenge. The goal of this paper is to present a sensitive and specific methodology of detecting CTCs in women with HER-2-positive metastatic breast cancer, and to examine its role as a marker that tracks disease response during treatment with trastuzumab-containing regimens. The study included patients with HER-2-positive metastatic breast cancer enrolled on two different clinical protocols using a trastuzumab-containing regimen. Serial CTCs were measured at planned time points and clinical correlations were made. Immunomagnetic selection of circulating epithelial cells was used to address the specificity of tumor cell detection using cytokeratin 19 (CK19). In addition, the extracellular domain of the HER-2 protein (HER-2/ECD) was measured to determine if CTCs detected by CK19 accurately reflect tumor burden. The presence of CTCs at first restaging was associated with disease progression. We observed an association between CK19 and HER-2/ECD. The association of HER-2/ECD with clinical response followed a similar pattern to that seen with CK19. Finally, the absence of HER-2/ECD at best overall response and a change of HER-2/ECD from positive at baseline to negative at best overall response was associated with favorable treatment response. Our study supports the prognostic and predictive role of the detection of CTCs in treatment of HER-2-positive metastatic breast cancer patients. The association between CK19 and markers of disease burden is in line with the concept that CTCs may be a reliable measure of tumor cells in the peripheral blood of patients with metastatic breast cancer. The association of CTCs at first restaging with treatment failure indicates that CTCs may have a role as surrogate markers to monitor treatment response.

ADVIA Centaur® Her-2/Neu Shows Value in Monitoring Patients with Metastatic Breast Cancer

2004 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 175-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Lüftner ◽  
C. Cheli ◽  
K. Mickelson ◽  
E. Sampson ◽  
K. Possinger
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Metastatic Breast Cancer ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Clinical Status ◽  
Metastatic Breast ◽  
Analytical Performance ◽  
Minimum Detectable Concentration ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Time Points ◽  
Her 2

Introduction The proteolytic breakdown product corresponding to the extracellular domain (ECD) of the HER-2/neu oncoprotein p185 is found in the circulation of healthy individuals and patients having cancers of epithelial origin. For the current evaluation we sought to determine the analytical performance as well as the clinical utility of the newly developed ADVIA Centaur® HER-2/neu assay (Bayer HealthCare LLC, Diagnostics Division, Tarrytown, NY, USA) in monitoring patients with metastatic breast cancer during the course of disease and treatment and to compare the obtained results with those of CA 15–3. Methods The analytical performance (including precision, normal range, interfering substances, minimum detectable concentration, dilution recovery, spiking recovery and high-dose hook effect) were determined. HER-2/neu and CA 15–3 values were measured in retrospective samples obtained from 59 patients with metastatic breast cancer undergoing treatment over a 6–12 month period. Serial changes in serum HER-2/neu and CA 15–3 were correlated with changes in clinical status on a visit-to-visit basis. For each pair of serial measurements, changes of equal to or greater than, or less than 15% for HER-2/neu and 21% for CA 15–3 were considered to indicate progression or lack of progression, respectively. Results The ADVIA Centaur HER-2/neu assay demonstrated within-run imprecision and total imprecision ranging from 3.0–5.6% and from 3.2–5.7%, respectively. The upper limit of normal was 15.2 ng/mL (90% CI: 14.2–17.0 ng/mL). No significant interference (<5%) was seen with bilirubins, hemoglobin, triglycerides and cholesterol or therapeutic drugs commonly present in the sera of breast cancer patients. The minimum detectable concentration (analytical sensitivity) was found to be 0.5 ng/mL. The patient population in the clinical study included breast cancer patients who responded to therapy (stable, partial or complete response) or had disease progression. HER-2/neu levels showed a concordance of 78.1% (82/105 restaging time points) with the clinical course of disease, whereas CA 15–3 levels showed a concordance of 76.2% (80/105 restaging time points). The concordance with clinical status increased to 85.7% (90/105 restaging time points) when both results were used in combination as a series test. Conclusions The ADVIA Centaur HER-2/neu assay provides excellent analytical performance for serial testing of serum HER-2/neu levels. The clinical data demonstrate the usefulness of serum HER-2/neu in monitoring metastatic breast cancer patients during treatment. Furthermore, the results indicate that serum HER-2/neu and CA 15–3 may be useful in identifying disease progression or therapeutic response in different subgroups of women with metastatic breast cancer.

Activity of trastuzumab-based therapy beyond disease progression in heavily pretreated metastatic breast cancer patients—Single institution experience

2006 ◽  
Vol 24 (18_suppl) ◽  
pp. 13159-13159
Author(s):  
P. Tokajuk ◽  
B. Czartoryska-Arlukowicz ◽  
M. Z. Wojtukiewicz
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Metastatic Breast Cancer ◽  
Disease Progression ◽  
Soft Tissues ◽  
Advanced Disease ◽  
Metastatic Breast ◽  
Second Line ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Heavily Pretreated ◽  
Her 2

13159 Background: Benefits from continuing trastuzumab-based (TZB) therapy beyond disease progression in HER-2-overexpressing metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients (pts) remain obscure. Methods: A retrospective analysis was undertaken to assess activity of TZB therapy for MBC pts treated in our institution from 2002 to 2005 outside clinical trials. Results: 27 pts were evaluated. Median age: 52 years (range, 33–62). 9 pts (33.3%) were premenopausal. Hormonal receptors status: 9 pts ER(+), 4 pts PgR (+), 2 unknown. HER-2 overexpression was determined by IHC staining (3+ score) in all pts. Metastases location: 18 pts soft tissues/bone, 18 pts visceral disease. Median number of metastatic sites: 2 (range: 1–4). 9 pts (33.3%) had metastases in < 2 locations. 16 pts (59.2%) received neo/adjuvant chemotherapy: 11 pts doxorubicin, 8 pts CMF, 2 pts docetaxel, 4 pts other. Median previous chemotherapy lines for advanced disease: 2 (range: 0–6). 16 pts received doxorubicin/epirubicin, 14 pts docetaxel, 13 pts vinorelbine as a part of advanced disease chemotherapy regimen. Trastuzumab was administered at standard doses and combined with docetaxel, vinorelbine, cisplatin, capecitabine, etoposide, gemcitabine or administered as monotherapy. Response for the first-line TZB therapy was as follows: CR 5/27 pts (18.5%); PR 10/27 pts (37%). Median TTP was 5.8 months (range: 0–22). 14/27 pts (51.8%) received a second-line TZB therapy beyond disease progression. Response for the second-line therapy: CR 2/14 pts (14.3%); PR 5/14 pts (35.7%). Median TTP was 5.1 months (range: 0–24). 6/14 pts received a third-line and subsequent lines (up to five lines) of TZB therapy. PR for subsequent lines of therapy was observed in 4 pts. Median survival has not been reached. Pts who received ≥2 of TZB regimens survived significantly longer than pts who had received only 1 regimen (P = 0,02 logrank). Pts with metastasis in 1 location survived significantly longer than pts with metastasis in ≥2 sites (P = 0,01 logrank). Conclusions: Trastuzumab-based therapy seems to be active in MBC pts beyond disease progression even in heavily pretreated population. Durable responses were observed in some cases. No significant financial relationships to disclose.

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