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Possible available treatment option for early stage, small, node-negative, and HER2-overexpressing breast cancer

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  • Should we treat minimal breast cancer lesions?
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Abstract

Trastuzumab is known for its clinical activity in women with HER2-overexpressing breast cancer. Randomized clinical trials have shown significant improvement in disease-free and overall survival with trastuzumab administered in conjunction with adjuvant chemotherapy for early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer. However, there is no direct evidence of clinical benefit from adjuvant trastuzumab in patients with node-negative, HER2-overexpressing, small (T1a-b) breast cancers. Previous literature shows that most breast cancers with node-negative small tumors have a good prognosis, but HER2-overexpressing disease might still be worse in this population. Some recent retrospective studies showed that an adjuvant trastuzumab-based regimen has a better prognostic effect, even in patients with node-negative, HER2-overexpressing, small breast cancers, although absolute survival differences were small. On the basis of the available literature, we believe that trastuzumab should be considered for patients with minimal HER2-overexpressing disease, although tools for accurate selection of patients at risk of relapse still need to be developed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Oncology, International Medical Center, Saitama Medical University, 1397-1 Yamane, Hidaka, Saitama, 350-1298, Japan

    Kazuhiro Araki, Shigehira Saji & Yasutsuna Sasaki

  2. Department of Target Therapy Oncology, Kyoto University, Graduate School of Medicine, 54 Shogoin Kawahara-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan

    Shigehira Saji

  3. Braman Family Breast Cancer Institute, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, Biomedical Research Building 1501 NW 10th Avenue, Miami, FL, 33136, USA

    Michelle Gallas & Mark Pegram

Authors
  1. Kazuhiro Araki
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  2. Shigehira Saji
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  3. Michelle Gallas
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  4. Mark Pegram
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  5. Yasutsuna Sasaki
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Correspondence to Shigehira Saji.

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Araki, K., Saji, S., Gallas, M. et al. Possible available treatment option for early stage, small, node-negative, and HER2-overexpressing breast cancer. Breast Cancer 19, 95–103 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12282-011-0296-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12282-011-0296-z

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