Dr. Baselga Describes the Advantages of Dual Blockade

José Baselga, MD, PhD, a professor in the Department of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and chief of Hematology/Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital, explains that the phase III CLEOPATRA trial helped formally establish that dual HER2 blockade is superior to single agent inhibition with trastuzumab (Herceptin).

The trial randomly combined placebo or pertuzumab with trastuzumab and docetaxel in the first-line setting for patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. Other trials are underway to validate the relatively new concept of dual inhibition in adjuvant or early-stage breast cancer patients.

Baselga describes the idea of dual blockade as a conceptually broad transformation. The CLEOPATRA trial represents the key evidence needed to prove the efficacy of using two HER2 targeted agents together.