Dr. Hurvitz on Eliminating Anthracyclines in HER2+ Breast Cancer Treatment

Sara Hurvitz, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at UCLA, discusses data supporting the elimination of anthracyclines in HER2-positive breast cancer treatment.

HER2-targeted therapy has significantly improved disease-free and overall survival in the adjuvant setting, with trastuzumab (Herceptin) altering the natural history of the disease. However, Hurvitz explains, the agent comes with the risk of cardiac toxicity. It is unknown if the combination of trastuzumab plus anthracyclines is causing long-term cardiac event rates to increase in these patients.

There are a few non-anthracycline regimens that have been evaluated in the adjuvant setting, with the results showing significantly fewer cardiac events and less cardiac toxicity than the anthracycline-containing regimen, Hurvitz says. The promise is that these regimens will be associated with less cardiac toxicity long-term for these patients.

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