scholarly journals Current Approaches and Emerging Directions in HER2-resistant Breast Cancer

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. BCBCR.S9453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam M. Brufsky

Human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) is overexpressed in up to 30% of breast cancers; HER2 overexpression is indicative of poor prognosis. Trastuzumab, an anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody, has led to improved outcomes in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer, including improved overall survival in adjuvant and first-line settings. However, a large proportion of patients with breast cancer have intrinsic resistance to HER2-targeted therapies, and nearly all become resistant to therapy after initial response. Elucidation of underlying mechanisms contributing to HER2 resistance has led to development of novel therapeutic strategies, including those targeting HER2 and downstream pathways, heat shock protein 90, telomerase, and vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitors. Numerous clinical trials are ongoing or completed, including phase 3 data for the mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor everolimus in patients with HER2-resistant breast cancer. This review considers the molecular mechanisms associated with HER2 resistance and evaluates the evidence for use of evolving strategies in patients with HER2-resistant breast cancer.

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nida Iqbal ◽  
Naveed Iqbal

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) is a member of the epidermal growth factor receptor family having tyrosine kinase activity. Dimerization of the receptor results in the autophosphorylation of tyrosine residues within the cytoplasmic domain of the receptors and initiates a variety of signaling pathways leading to cell proliferation and tumorigenesis. Amplification or overexpression of HER2 occurs in approximately 15–30% of breast cancers and 10–30% of gastric/gastroesophageal cancers and serves as a prognostic and predictive biomarker. HER2 overexpression has also been seen in other cancers like ovary, endometrium, bladder, lung, colon, and head and neck. The introduction of HER2 directed therapies has dramatically influenced the outcome of patients with HER2 positive breast and gastric/gastroesophageal cancers; however, the results have been proved disappointing in other HER2 overexpressing cancers. This review discusses the role of HER2 in various cancers and therapeutic modalities available targeting HER2.


2008 ◽  
Vol 26 (35) ◽  
pp. 5697-5704 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Chia ◽  
Brian Norris ◽  
Caroline Speers ◽  
Maggie Cheang ◽  
Blake Gilks ◽  
...  

Purpose Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 gene (HER2) is associated with a poorer outcome in node-positive breast cancer, but the results are conflicting in node-negative disease. This study assessed the prognostic impact of HER2 overexpression/amplification in a large series of node-negative breast cancers. Patients and Methods A tissue microarray (TMA) series was constructed consisting of 4,444 invasive breast cancers diagnosed in British Columbia from 1986 to 1992. Within this series, 2,026 patients were node negative, of whom 70% did not receive adjuvant systemic therapy. The TMA series was assessed for estrogen receptor (ER) and HER2. Logistic regression modeling was used to estimate odds ratios at the 10-year follow-up. Results HER2 was positive in 10.2% of the node-negative cohort. In this cohort, an inferior outcome was seen in patients with HER2-positive tumors compared with HER2-negative tumors for 10-year relapse-free survival (RFS; 65.9% v 75.5%, respectively; P = .01), distant RFS (71.2% v 81.8%, respectively; P = .004), and breast cancer–specific survival (BCSS; 75.5% v 86.3%, respectively; P = .001). A trend for a worse overall survival was also seen (P = .06). HER2 was an independent poor prognostic factor for RFS and BCSS at 10 years, with odds ratios of 1.71 (P = .01) and 2.03 (P = .003), respectively. The number of HER2-positive tumors that were ≤ 1 cm was small, but there was a trend for a worse outcome in T1b tumors. Conclusion HER2 overexpression/amplification is correlated with a poorer outcome in node-negative breast cancer. Larger studies are needed to more clearly define the prognostic impact of HER2 in tumors ≤ 1 cm, particularly within the separate hormone receptor subgroups.


Author(s):  
Amit Bhalla

The human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) ERbb2 gene is amplified in approximately 25% of breast cancers. Characteristics of HER2-amplified tumors include increased proliferation rates and a propensity for distant metastasis. The discovery of overexpression of HER2 in a subset of breast cancers was an important milestone in our understanding of the biology of the disease. This paved the way for the discovery of trastuzumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody targeting HER2. Trastuzumab is the foundation of treatment of HER2- positive breast cancers, demonstrating dramatic responses in patients with metastatic disease. Recent advances in our understanding of the interaction between HER2 and other members of the epidermal growth factor receptor family have led to the identification of newer agents, resulting in the expansion of the clinical armamentarium of available agents for the treatment of HER2-positive tumors. The biology of the ERbb receptor family, the use of HER2-targeted agents in breast cancer, and the advances in anti-HER2 agents that are currently in clinical development are reviewed here.


Cancers ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Babak Nami ◽  
Hamid Maadi ◽  
Zhixiang Wang

Human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER) 2 (HER2) is overexpressed in 20–30% of breast cancers. HER2 is a preferred target for treating HER2-positive breast cancer. Trastuzumab and pertuzumab are two HER2-targeted monoclonal antibodies approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to use as adjuvant therapy in combination with docetaxel to treat metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer. Adding the monoclonal antibodies to treatment regimen has changed the paradigm for treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer. Despite improving outcomes, the percentage of the patients who benefit from the treatment is still low. Continued research and development of novel agents and strategies of drug combinations is needed. A thorough understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the action and synergism of trastuzumab and pertuzumab is essential for moving forward to achieve high efficacy in treating HER2-positive breast cancer. This review examined and analyzed findings and hypotheses regarding the action and synergism of trastuzumab and pertuzumab and proposed a model of synergism based on available information.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilana Schlam ◽  
Sandra M. Swain

AbstractHuman epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) positive breast cancer accounts for 20–25% of all breast cancers. Multiple HER2-targeted therapies have been developed over the last few years, including the tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) lapatinib, neratinib, tucatinib, and pyrotinib. These drugs target HER2 and other receptors of the epidermal growth factor receptor family, therefore each has unique efficacy and adverse event profile. HER2-directed TKIs have been studied in the early stage and advanced settings and have shown promising responses. There is increasing interest in utilizing these drugs in combination with chemotherapy and /or other HER2-directed agents in patients with central nervous system involvement, TKIs have shown to be effective in this setting for which treatment options have been previously limited and the prognosis remains poor. The aim of this review is to summarize currently approved TKIs for HER2+ breast, key clinical trials, and their use in current clinical practice.


BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. e035802
Author(s):  
Qiancheng Hu ◽  
Xin Wang ◽  
Ye Chen ◽  
Xiaofen Li ◽  
Ting Luo ◽  
...  

IntroductionControversy regarding optimum duration of trastuzumab treatment remains in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) positive early breast cancer. The objective of applying network meta-analysis (NMA) is to integrate existing evidence based on direct and indirect comparisons of efficacy and safety, and then to determine the duration of trastuzumab treatments with the greatest impact on therapeutic outcomes in HER2-positive early breast cancers.Methods and analysisElectronic searching of trastuzumab treatments for early breast cancer by titles and abstracts will be conducted for the period from inception to 16 June 2019 in PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase and ClinicalTrils.gov, as well as the annual meetings of San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) and American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) online archives. The outcomes of interest are overall survival, disease-free survival, acceptability, cardiotoxicities and grade 3 to 4 non-haematological toxicities. Two independent reviewers will screen and extract eligible data based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and then assess the risk of bias and evidence quality of individual studies using Cochrane Collaboration’s tool and Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE). The heterogeneity, transitivity and inconsistency of NMA will be evaluated. In addition, we will perform subgroup and sensitivity analyses to assess the robustness and reliability of findings in our NMA.Ethics and disseminationEthics approval is not required for our NMA. Findings from our NMA will be submitted as peer-reviewed journal manuscripts and international conference reports.Trial registration numberCRD42019139109.


2021 ◽  
pp. 107815522199163
Author(s):  
Homa Seyedmirzaei ◽  
Mahsa Keshavarz-Fathi ◽  
Sepideh Razi ◽  
Masoumeh Gity ◽  
Nima Rezaei

Objective Breast cancer is responsible for most of the cancer-induced deaths in women around the world. The current review will discuss different approaches of targeting HER2, an epidermal growth factor overexpressed in 30% of breast cancer cases. Data sources We conducted a search on Pubmed and Scopus databases to find studies relevant to HER2+ breast cancers and targeting HER2 as means of immunotherapy. Out of 1043 articles, 105 studies were included in this review. Data summary As well as the introduction of HER2 and breast cancer subtypes, we discussed various aspects of HER2-targeting immunotherapy including monoclonal antibodies, Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cells and vaccines. Conclusions Despite several ways of controlling breast cancer, the need to investigate new drugs and approaches seems to be much significant as this cancer still has a heavy burden on people’s health and survival.


2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (18) ◽  
pp. 2966-2973 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Colleoni ◽  
Bernard F. Cole ◽  
Giuseppe Viale ◽  
Meredith M. Regan ◽  
Karen N. Price ◽  
...  

Purpose Retrospective studies suggest that primary breast cancers lacking estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) and not overexpressing human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2; triple-negative tumors) are particularly sensitive to DNA-damaging chemotherapy with alkylating agents. Patients and Methods Patients enrolled in International Breast Cancer Study Group Trials VIII and IX with node-negative, operable breast cancer and centrally assessed ER, PR, and HER2 were included (n = 2,257). The trials compared three or six courses of adjuvant classical cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil (CMF) with or without endocrine therapy versus endocrine therapy alone. We explored patterns of recurrence by treatment according to three immunohistochemically defined tumor subtypes: triple negative, HER2 positive and endocrine receptor absent, and endocrine receptor present. Results Patients with triple-negative tumors (303 patients; 13%) were significantly more likely to have tumors > 2 cm and grade 3 compared with those in the HER2-positive, endocrine receptor–absent, and endocrine receptor–present subtypes. No clear chemotherapy benefit was observed in endocrine receptor–present disease (hazard ratio [HR], 0.90; 95% CI, 0.74 to 1.11). A statistically significantly greater benefit for chemotherapy versus no chemotherapy was observed in triple-negative breast cancer (HR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.29 to 0.73; interaction P = .009 v endocrine receptor–present disease). The magnitude of the chemotherapy effect was lower in HER2-positive endocrine receptor–absent disease (HR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.29 to 1.17; interaction P = .24 v endocrine receptor–present disease). Conclusion The magnitude of benefit of CMF chemotherapy is largest in patients with triple-negative, node-negative breast cancer.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 175883591881834 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriana Matutino ◽  
Carla Amaro ◽  
Sunil Verma

The development of cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitors has been more prominent in hormone receptor (HR)-positive human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative breast cancers, with a significant improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) in first and later lines of metastatic breast cancer (MBC) therapy. Preclinical evidence suggests that there is activity of CDK4/6 inhibitors in nonluminal cell lines. Here, we present a review of the current preclinical and clinical data on the use of CDK inhibitors in HER2-positive and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).


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