Dr. Osborne on the Benefits of Dual-Targeted Therapy for HER2+ Breast Cancer

C. Kent Osborne, MD, director, Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, discusses the benefits of dual-targeted therapy for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.

The trials of dual-targeted therapy have exhibited more benefits than trastuzumab (Herceptin) alone in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer, explains Osborne.

However, in the adjuvant setting this benefit was not as noticeable when paired with aggressive chemotherapy regimens. The chemotherapy destroys the same cells as the dual-targeted therapy, allowing there to be no noticeable benefit. The benefit of the dual-targeted therapy is that chemotherapy is avoided, states Osborne.