Therapy for HER2-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer

To the Editor: Murthy et al. (Feb. 13 issue) 1 have shown that tucatinib prolongs survival among patients who have previously received treatment for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)–positive breast cancer. Its activity in patients with brain metastases is encouraging. The combination...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe New England journal of medicine Vol. 382; no. 25; pp. 597 - 609
Main Authors Dekker, Tim J.A, Winer, Eric P
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Boston Massachusetts Medical Society 18.06.2020
Subjects
Breast cancer
Central nervous system
Epidermal growth factor
ErbB-2 protein
Metastases
Metastasis
Monoclonal antibodies
Radiation therapy
Survival
Targeted cancer therapy
Trastuzumab
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Summary:To the Editor: Murthy et al. (Feb. 13 issue) 1 have shown that tucatinib prolongs survival among patients who have previously received treatment for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)–positive breast cancer. Its activity in patients with brain metastases is encouraging. The combination of tucatinib and capecitabine as agents with central nervous system (CNS) activity, paired with trastuzumab for extracranial control, is appealing, especially given its acceptable safety profile. To fully evaluate tucatinib, measures in addition to overall survival are essential. The mainstay of treatment for cerebral metastases is still radiotherapy. 2 Given that the majority of patients had already been . . .
ISSN:0028-4793
1533-4406
DOI:10.1056/NEJMc2004854