| Abstract: |
Breast cancer is a leading cause of malignancy-related death in women. The prognosis for patients with breast cancer is determined by well established pathologic features associated with poor outcome such as histological grade, tumor size, and node involvement. The proto-oncogene HER2/neu or its protein receptor HER2 is amplified/overexpressed in nearly 25-30% of breast tumors. It is now recognized that breast tumors that overexpress the HER2 receptor are associated with poor prognosis and outcome. The discovery of monoclonal antibodies targeted against the transmembrane protein p 185HER2/neu of HER2/neu represents a new tool for the treatment of breast cancer patients with tumors that overexpress this receptor. Trastuzumab is a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody against the HER2 receptor that has been shown to be very active in both preclinical and clinical trials. In metastatic disease, the addition of trastuzumab to current chemotherapy has proven to be beneficial compared with chemotherapy alone. Clinical trials with different trastuzumab combination chemotherapies in metastatic settings are ongoing. In addition, trastuzumab therapy is now being tested beyond advanced disease; several trials in America and Europe are designed to add trastuzumab to adjuvant chemotherapy for patients with early nonmetastatic breast cancer. The efficacy and safety of trastuzumab in clinical trials are reviewed in this report. |
