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HER2 and surgery: more questions to answer.
- Source :
-
Lancet . 8/16/2003, Vol. 362 Issue 9383, p502-503. 2p. - Publication Year :
- 2003
-
Abstract
- The HER2 growth-factor receptor plays an integral role in cellular proliferation and differentiation. HER2 gene-amplification leads to overexpression of this receptor in 20-25% of breast cancers. HER2 overexpression is associated with an aggressive phenotype of breast cancer and an adverse prognosis. In women with advanced breast cancer that overexpresses HER2, trastuzumab is an effective and safe therapy, either as a single agent or in combination with chemotherapy. In a phase III trial with 469 women with metastatic HER2-overexpressing breast cancer, the combination of first-line chemotherapy and trastuzumab led to greater objective response rates, median time to progression, duration of response, and overall survival than chemotherapy alone. In this issue of "The Lancet," Elda Tagliabue and colleagues present intriguing data that suggest a role for trastuzumab, and perhaps other innovative-targeted therapies, in the perioperative setting. These investigators set out to study the impact of surgery on the proliferation of remnant breast cancer cells, in particular those cells that overexpress HER2. Recently, Burstein et al 13 reported a pilot study in which trastuzumab and paclitaxel were administered to 40 women with stage II and III HER2-positive breast cancer. Preoperative studies with trastuzumab and newer targeted agents that inhibit other members of the epidermal-growth-factor receptor family are important to improve understanding of tumour biology and how therapies--medical and surgical--affect long-term outcomes.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 01406736
- Volume :
- 362
- Issue :
- 9383
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Lancet
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 10579098
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(03)14147-5