Menu
Back to Journals » International Journal of Women's Health » Volume 1
Targeting HER2 in breast cancer: overview of long-term experience
Authors Lantz E, Cunningham I, Higa G
Published 19 October 2009 Volume 2009:1 Pages 155—171
DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/IJWH.S5647
Review by Single anonymous peer review
Peer reviewer comments 2
Evan Lantz,1 Ivan Cunningham,1 Gerald M Higa2
1School of Pharmacy, 2Schools of Pharmacy and Medicine and the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA
Abstract: The ability to probe diseases at the genomic level has improved our understanding and enhanced the treatment of breast cancer. One important finding relates to the HER2 oncogene which encodes a novel transmembrane receptor that, when overexpressed, appears to confer growth and survival advantages to breast tumor cells. This fortuitous discovery enabled researchers to develop agents which could inhibit receptor-mediated tumor cell signaling. Numerous clinical trials of such agents have demonstrated improved outcomes in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer. Nonetheless, not all tumors respond to therapy targeting the receptor, while relapses occur after an initial response to treatment. This paper provides a historical and current perspective of the treatment of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.
Keywords: adjuvant therapy, ErbB, HER2, lapatinib, metastatic breast cancer, neo-adjuvant therapy
© 2009 The Author(s). This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License.
By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.