20 Sep Breast Cancer: Two Years vs One of Adjuvant Rastuzumab
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Prof Aron Goldhirsch
Department of Medicine
European Institute of Oncology
Via Ripamonti 435, 20141 Milan, Italy
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Prof. Goldhirsch: Two years of adjuvant trastuzumab after standard chemotherapy is not more effective than is 1 year of treatment with the drug for patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer.
MedicalResearch.com: Were any of the findings unexpected?
Prof. Goldhirsch: Hypothetically, the longer duration exposure to adjuvant trastuzumab was expected to yield a longer DFS, similarly to other targeted therapies, like endocrine therapy.
MedicalResearch.com: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?
Prof. Goldhirsch: 1 year of treatment provides a significant disease-free and overall survival benefit compared with observation (after adjuvant chemotherapy) and remains the standard of care.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Prof. Goldhirsch: There are several new efficacious drugs for HER2 disease, (TRASTUZUMAB EMTANSINE and PERTUZUMAB).
An intelligent investigation of their role in the adjuvant setting, for the duration of one year, is a relevant task for clinical research in the field.
Citation:
Department of Medicine, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy.
Electronic address: [email protected].
Lancet. 2013 Jul 17. pii: S0140-6736(13)61094-6. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61094-6. [Epub ahead of print]
Last Updated on September 20, 2013 by Marie Benz MD FAAD