Tag: HER2

The treatment landscape for HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer has been rapidly evolving. Since February, the FDA has approved three new drugs to treat it: neratinib, tucatinib, and trastuzumab deruxtecan. More continue to look promising in clinical trials. Targeted therapies’ drugs that can attach to certain features of cancer cells have created more research avenues and may potentially lead to more treatment options.

To learn more about what it means to be HER2 positive, how the subtype is typically treated, the latest news in research, and what might be coming down the line, check out the information below.

What Does HER2 Positive Mean?

• Breast Cancer HER2 Status  The American Cancer Society describes, in simple terms, what HER2 positive means and what test doctors use to determine whether a tumor is HER2 positive or HER2 negative.

How HER2 Positive is Typically Treated 

• Targeted Therapy  The National Breast Cancer Foundation explains what targeted therapy is and how it works.
• Targeted Therapy for Metastatic HER2 Positive Breast Cancer  Cancer.Net provides a complete list of targeted therapies used to treat HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer (halfway down the page).

What’s New in HER2 Positive MBC

• For Metastatic HER2 Positive Breast Cancer, New Treatments Emerge  The National Cancer Institute gives a breakdown of recent research findings and FDA approvals for HER2 positive MBC.
• Recent FDA Approvals for Metastatic Breast Cancer From Metastatic Trial Talk’s June issue, find information on the two most recent approvals for HER2 positive disease. (Note that a third, sacitizumab govetican, is for people with triple negative breast cancer only.)
• FDA Approves Nerlynx for HER2 Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer  Breastcancer.org explains the FDA approval of neratinib (NERLYNX®) for HER2 positive MBC, a drug once only approved for early-stage breast cancer.
• New Data from HER2CLIMB Shows Tucatinib Prevents Progression of Brain Metastases  Living Beyond Breast Cancer summarizes a new analysis of data that shows people treated with tucatinib (TUKYSA) for HER2 positive MBC with brain metastases went longer without the brain metastases growing.
• Experimental Pyrotinib and Xeloda Regimen Better Than Tykerb and Xeloda for Metastatic HER2 Positive Breast Cancer  Breastcancer.org discusses recent trial findings suggesting that pyrotinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, worked better at treating HER2 positive MBC than lapatinib (Tykerb®). It may also work against cancers that have stopped responding to trastuzumab (Herceptin®).
• Trastuzumab Deruxtecan in Previously Treated HER2-positive Metastatic Breast Cancer: Plain Language Summary of the DESTINY-Breast01 Study Future Medicine provides the results of a clinical trial testing trastuzumab deruxtecan, also known as T-DXd, for the treatment of HER2+ MBC. T-DXd is approved by the FDA for treatment of patients with HER2+ MBC who have received other previous treatments.

What’s in the Pipeline?

• Emerging Areas in Metastatic Breast Cancer Treatment  Susan G. Komen breaks down treatments on the rise and under study for metastatic breast cancer. For HER2 positive disease, the most helpful sections are HER2 Targeted Therapies, HER2 antibody drug conjugates, and Tyrosine kinase inhibitors.
• Clinical Trials for HER2 Positive MBC Metastatic Trial Search provides a list of over 100 clinical trials for people with HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer.

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