POST-TRASTUZUMAB HER2+ BREAST CANCER 

Breast. 2013 Jan 23. pii: S0960-9776(12)00250-0. doi: 10.1016/j.breast.2012.12.006. [Epub ahead of print]

Clinical outcomes and treatment practice patterns of patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer in the post-trastuzumab era.

Olson EM, Najita JS, Sohl J, Arnaout A, Burstein HJ, Winer EP, Lin NU.

Source

Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. Electronic address: Erin.olson@osumc.edu.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Trastuzumab is associated with improvements in overall survival (OS) among patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer (MBC); however disease course and patterns of care in individual patients are highly variable.

METHODS:

113 HER2-positive patients diagnosed with MBC from 1999 to 2005 who received trastuzumab-based therapy were retrospectively identified to allow for a minimum of 5 years of follow-up time. Median OS and median duration of therapy were determined using Kaplan-Meier methodology and group comparisons were based on the log-rank test. Hazard ratios (HR) were obtained using a Cox proportional hazards model.

RESULTS:

Median OS was 3.5 years (95% CI 3.0-4.4) from time of initiation of first therapy in the metastatic setting. On univariate analysis, central nervous system (CNS) disease at first recurrence was associated with a shorter OS compared with liver and/or lung metastases or other sites (CNS: 1.9 years CI 0.1-5.9, liver/lung: 3.2 years CI 2.5-4.2, other: 4.6 years CI 2.7-8.0; p = 0.05), however, this was not predictive of survival outcome in multivariate analysis. CNS metastases developed in 62 (55%) patients by the time of death or last follow-up. Median duration of therapy was similar up to 6 lines of treatment, and ranged from 5.2 months to 7.2 months.

CONCLUSIONS:

The natural history of HER2-positive MBC has evolved with trastuzumab-based therapy with median OS now exceeding 3 years. CNS disease is a major problem with continued risk of CNS progression over time. Patients demonstrate clinical benefit to multiple lines of HER2-directed therapy.