Dr. Mehta on the Current Treatment Paradigm in HER2-Positive Gastric Cancer

Rutika J. Mehta, MD, MPH, a medical oncologist specializing in gastrointestinal cancer at Moffitt Cancer Center, discusses the ​current treatment paradigm in HER2-positive gastric cancer. 

Unlike the HER2-positive breast cancer space, patients with HER2-positive gastric cancer have limited treatment options, says Mehta.

Moreover, since there are no data supporting the continuation of ​trastuzumab (Herceptin) after disease progression, the field is ​working to​ identify the mechanism of resistance to trastuzumab, Mehta explains. 

Additionally, HER2-positive gastric cancer tends to be more heterogeneous compared with HER2-positive breast cancer, which poses the question of whether lesion-specific biopsies are representative of the entire disease. As such, the optimal role of trastuzumab and other anti–HER2-based regimens remain largely unknown in this space, Mehta concludes.