Abstract
Breast cancer that is characterized by amplification or over expression of human epidermal
growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) accounts for 15% to 20% of all forms of the disease.
Although HER2 amplification has been associated with aggressive disease behavior and
poor prognosis, the development and availability of a number of HER2-targeted agents
has led to improved outcomes for patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer,
with data suggesting that overall survival has substantially improved in the past
2 decades. An increasing proportion of HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer is diagnosed
as de novo stage IV disease. Patients with de novo metastases are traditionally classified
in the general category of metastatic breast cancer and not analyzed as a distinct
subgroup, though response to therapy and disease outcomes may differ from that of
disease that recurred after early stage disease. Among patients with HER2+ de novo
metastatic breast cancer, those who achieve a complete response have a prolonged progression‐free
survival and overall survival. Moreover, the fact that some patients achieve a prolonged
durable response has raised interest and renewed discussion about whether cure is
feasible in the complex context of metastatic breast cancer. In this review, available
data associated with the possibility of cure in the population of patients with HER2+
de novo metastatic breast cancer are presented and discussed in detail.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Clinical Breast CancerAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Tucatinib, Trastuzumab, and Capecitabine for HER2-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer.N Engl J Med. 2020; 382: 597-609https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmoa1914609
- From improved survival to potential cure in patients with metastatic breast cancer Possible clinical cure of metastatic breast cancer: lessons from our 30-year experience with oligometastatic breast cancer patients and literature review.Breast Cancer. 2012; 19: 218-237https://doi.org/10.1007/s12282-012-0347-0
- The impact of new chemotherapeutic and hormone agents on survival in a population-based cohort of women with metastatic breast cancer.Cancer. 2007; 110: 973-979https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.22867
- Human breast cancer: correlation of relapse and survival with amplification of the HER-2/neu oncogene.Science (80-). 1987; 235: 182-191https://doi.org/10.1126/science.3798106
- Use of chemotherapy plus a monoclonal antibody against HER2 for metastatic breast cancer that overexpresses HER2.N Engl J Med. 2001; 344: 783-792https://doi.org/10.1056/nejm200103153441101
- Prognosis of women with metastatic breast cancer by HER2 status and trastuzumab treatment: an institutional-based review.J Clin Oncol. 2010; 28: 92-98https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2008.19.9844
- Use and duration of chemotherapy in patients with metastatic breast cancer according to tumor subtype and line of therapy.JNCCN J Natl Compr Cancer Netw. 2014; 12: 71-80https://doi.org/10.6004/jnccn.2014.0008
- Divergent evolution of overall survival across metastatic breast cancer (MBC) subtypes in the nationwide ESME real life cohort 2008-2016.Ann Oncol. 2020; 31: S352-S353https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annonc.2020.08.380
- Pertuzumab plus Trastuzumab plus Docetaxel for metastatic breast cancer.N Engl J Med. 2012; 366: 109-119https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmoa1113216
- Breast surgery for metastatic breast cancer.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018; 2018https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD011276.pub2
- Long-Term Survival of De Novo stage IV human epidermal growth receptor 2 (HER2) positive breast cancers treated with HER2-targeted therapy.Oncologist. 2019; 24: 313-318https://doi.org/10.1634/theoncologist.2018-0213
- Surgical management of de novo Stage IV breast cancer.Semin Radiat Oncol. 2016; 26: 79-86https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semradonc.2015.08.004
- Cancer statistics, 2020.CA Cancer J Clin. 2020; 70: 7-30https://doi.org/10.3322/caac.21590
- Adjuvant Trastuzumab in HER2-positive breast cancer.N Engl J Med. 2011; 365: 1273-1283https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa0910383
- Trastuzumab plus adjuvant chemotherapy for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 - Positive breast cancer: planned joint analysis of overall survival from NSABP B-31 and NCCTG N9831.J Clin Oncol. 2014; 32: 3744-3752https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2014.55.5730
- Trastuzumab after adjuvant chemotherapy in HER2-positive breast cancer.N Engl J Med. 2005; 353: 1659-1672https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmoa052306
- De Novo Versus Recurrent HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer: patient characteristics, treatment, and survival from the SystHERs registry.Oncologist. 2020; 25https://doi.org/10.1634/theoncologist.2019-0446
- Long-term survivor characteristics in HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer from registHER.Br J Cancer. 2014; 110: 2756-2764https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.2014.174
- Patterns of care and clinical outcomes of HER2-positive Metastatic breast cancer patients with newly diagnosed stage IV or recurrent disease undergoing first-line trastuzumab-based therapy: a multicenter retrospective cohort study.Clin Breast Cancer. 2017; 17 (e2): 601-610https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clbc.2017.04.002
- Survival with metastatic breast cancer based on initial presentation, de novo vs. relapsed.Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2017; 161: 549-556https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-016-4080-9
- Prognosis of metastatic breast cancer: are there differences between patients with de novo and recurrent metastatic breast cancer?.Br J Cancer. 2015; 112: 1445-1451https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.2015.127
- Effect of adjuvant/neoadjuvant trastuzumab on clinical outcomes in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.Cancer. 2014; 120: 1932-1938https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.28689
- Clinical outcome in women with HER2-positive de novo or recurring stage IV breast cancer receiving trastuzumab-based therapy.Breast. 2014; 23: 44-49https://doi.org/10.1016/j.breast.2013.10.005
- Is breast cancer survival improving?.Cancer. 2004; 100: 44-52https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.11859
- Can we cure limited metastatic breast cancer?.J Clin Oncol. 2002; 20: 620-623https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2002.20.3.620
- Distant metastatic breast cancer as an incurable disease: a tenet with a need for revision.Cancer J. 2009; 15: 81-86https://doi.org/10.1097/PPO.0b013e31818d8509
- International guidelines for management of metastatic breast cancer: can metastatic breast cancer be cured?.J Natl Cancer Inst. 2010; 102: 456-463https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/djq029
- Pertuzumab, Trastuzumab, and Docetaxel in HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer A BS TR AC T.N Engl J Med. 2015; 372: 724-758https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1413513
- Circulating tumor cells in breast cancer.Mol Oncol. 2016; 10: 418-430https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molonc.2016.01.001
- Analysis of circulating tumor DNA to monitor metastatic breast cancer A bs tr ac t.NEJM.org. 2013; 368: 1199-1209https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1213261
- A role for curative surgery in the treatment of selected patients with metastatic breast cancer.Oncologist. 2003; 8: 241-251https://doi.org/10.1634/theoncologist.8-3-241
- Comparative analysis of durable responses on immune checkpoint inhibitors vs. other systemic therapies: a pooled analysis of phase III trials.JCO Precis Oncol. 2019; : 1-10https://doi.org/10.1200/PO.18.00114
- A clinical feasibility trial for identification of exceptional responders in whom breast cancer surgery can be eliminated following neoadjuvant systemic therapy.Ann Surg. 2018; 267: 946-951https://doi.org/10.1097/SLA.0000000000002313
- Can maintenance trastuzumab be stopped in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer?.BMJ Case Rep. 2015; 2015https://doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2014-207750
- Complete remission in metastatic breast cancer: expecting the unexpected—results of a cross-sectional study.Breast Cancer. 2017; 24: 635-641https://doi.org/10.1007/s12282-017-0751-6
- Durable complete response in HER2-positive breast cancer: a multicenter retrospective analysis.Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2018; 167: 81-87https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-017-4489-9
- Metastatic HER2+ breast cancer: a potentially curable disease?.Cureus. 2017; 9https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.1654
- Durable complete response following chemotherapy and trastuzumab for metastatic her2-positive breast cancer.Ann Oncol. 2012; 23: 2204-2205https://doi.org/10.1093/annonc/mds221
Steenbruggen TG, Bouwer N I, Smorenburg C H, et al. Radiological complete remission in HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer patients: what to do with trastuzumab? 2019;178:597-605. doi:10.1007/s10549-019-05427-1
Ihnenfeld Arciénega I, Imesch P, Fink D, Dedes KJ. Prolonged complete remission of metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer after continuous trastuzumab treatment: a case report and review of the literature. doi:10.1007/s11523-014-0350-9
Giordano SH, Temin S, Kirshner JJ, et al. Systemic Therapy for Patients With Advanced Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2-Positive Breast Cancer: American Society of Clinical Oncology Clinical Practice Guideline. Published online 2014. doi:10.1200/JCO.2013.54.0948
- Clinicopathological and surgical factors associated with long-term survival in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2016; 159: 367-374https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-016-3933-6
- Long-term tumor remission under trastuzumab treatment for HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer - results from the HER-OS patient registry.BMC Cancer. 2014; 14https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2407-14-806
- Long-term follow-up of patients with metastatic breast cancer treated by trastuzumab: impact of institutions.Breast. 2014; 23: 165-169https://doi.org/10.1016/j.breast.2013.12.003
- Adenocarcinoma of the kidney with metastasis to the lung: cured by nephrectomy and lobectomy1.J Urol. 1939; 42: 269-276https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5347(17)71516-9
- Safety and survival rates associated with ablative stereotactic radiotherapy for patients with oligometastatic cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.JAMA Oncol. 2020; 7: 92-106https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaoncol.2020.6146
- Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy for the comprehensive treatment of oligometastatic cancers: long-term results of the SABR-COMET Phase II randomized trial.J Clin Oncol. 2020; 38: 2830-2838https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.20.00818
Cardoso F, Harbeck N, Fallowfield L, Kyriakides S, Senkus E, Group W. Locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer: ESMO clinical practice guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up †. Published online 2012. doi:10.1093/annonc/mds232.
- A randomized phase III trial of systemic therapy plus early local therapy vs. systemic therapy alone in women with de novo stage IV breast cancer: A trial of the ECOG-ACRIN Research Group (E2108).J Clin Oncol. 2020; 38 (LBA2-LBA2)https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2020.38.18_suppl.LBA2
- T-DM1 activity in metastatic human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive breast cancers that received prior therapy with Trastuzumab and Pertuzumab.J Clin Oncol. 2016; 34: 3511-3517https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2016.67.3624
- Long-Term Outcome of Patients (Pts) with Her2-Positive (Her2+) Metastatic Breast Cancer (Mbc) Who Achieved a Complete Response (Cr) After Antiher2 Therapy (Her2Tx).Ann Oncol. 2014; 25: iv124https://doi.org/10.1093/annonc/mdu329.25
Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 03, 2021
Accepted:
June 25,
2021
Received in revised form:
May 25,
2021
Received:
March 4,
2021
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
