Dr. Isaacs Discusses the Future of Treatment for HER2+ Breast Cancer

Claudine Isaacs, MD, professor, medical director, Fisher Center for Familial Cancer Research, co-director, Breast Cancer Program, Georgetown University/Lombardi Cancer Center, discusses the future of treatment for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.

There are a number of new drugs on the horizon for the treatment of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer. The landscape has undergone a dramatic change in the past few years with the data with pertuzumab (Perjeta) in first-line, the CLEOPATRA study, and the data on ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1; Kadcyla) in the second-line setting, says Isaacs.

Patients were doing well for so long, that clinical trial accruement was somewhat of a challenge, Isaacs says. However, there are a lot of exciting agents and combinations on the horizon, such as tucatinib (ONT-380), which may have the ability to penetrate the blood-brain barrier in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer. Additionally, there is interest in looking at immunotherapy with HER2-targeted therapies, as well as CDK4/6 inhibitors in combination with HER2-targeted therapies.