Herceptin Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Herceptin, including details on side-effects, breast cancer, treatment, therapy.

Trastuzumab (herceptin) for early-stage breast cancer.

Ismael G, Rosa DD, de Azambuja E, Braga S, Piccart-Gebhart M

Medical Oncology Clinic, Jules Bordet Institute, l'Université Libre de Bruxelles, Boulevard de Waterloo, 125, 1000 Brussels, Belgium.

Breast cancer patients who have HER2 gene amplification and, consequently, protein overexpression, generally show an aggressive course with short disease-free and overall survivals. Trastuzumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody against the extracellular domain of HER2 protein, has been shown to benefit patients who have HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, and recently, the results of five adjuvant trials involving more than 13,000 women have been released. Here, the authors summarize the main results and outline the differences among these trials, which have demonstrated an important role of trastuzumab in the treatment of women who have HER2-overexpressing/amplified early breast cancer.

Published 21 May 2007 in Hematol Oncol Clin North Am, 21(2): 239-56.
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