Dr. Jhaveri on Outlining First-Line Treatment in HER2+ Breast Cancer

Komal Jhaveri, MD, FACP, attending physician, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, clinical director of the Early Drug Development Service, assistant professor of medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, discusses the importance of outlining the first-line treatment course for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.

For patients with newly diagnosed de novo metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer, outlining the potential plan for their entire course of treatment can be overwhelming, says Jhaveri. As such, it may be beneficial to focus on first-line therapy. The same can be true for patients who develop advanced-stage disease where treatment options are more palliative than curative, Jhaveri explains.

One standard frontline option for patients with advanced-stage disease is the combination of paclitaxel or docetaxel, trastuzumab (Herceptin), and pertuzumab (Perjeta), Jhaveri says.

Typically, patients receive the chemotherapy backbone until maximal response, Jhaveri explains. This occurs after about 6 months of weekly paclitaxel or 6 to 8 cycles of docetaxel. Then, patients receive maintenance trastuzumab/pertuzumab, Jhaveri concludes.