title: Pertuzumab for the treatment of human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2-positive metastatic breast cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, clinical efficacy, safety, and administration of pertuzumab in patients with metastatic human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer are reviewed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Disease progression in HER2-positive breast cancer is often due to resistance to or a lack of efficacy of trastuzumab-based anti-HER2 therapy. Pertuzumab is the first humanized monoclonal antibody in a new class of drugs, the HER dimerization inhibitors, approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer who have not received prior anti-HER2 therapy or chemotherapy for metastatic disease. Since pertuzumab binds to a different epitope than trastuzumab, combination therapy with pertuzumab and trastuzumab results in a more complete blockade of HER2 signaling than trastuzumab monotherapy. The efficacy of adding pertuzumab to trastuzumab-docetaxel dual therapy was demonstrated in a pivotal randomized multicenter Phase III trial, which showed a significant benefit in terms of progression-free survival, with improved overall survival, in favor of the triple therapy as an initial regimen in treatment-naive patients with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer. The combination of pertuzumab and trastuzumab has been found to have a tolerable toxicity profile. As clinical trials of pertuzumab for adjuvant, neoadjuvant, and metastatic-disease treatment continue, its role in the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer will continue to evolve.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pertuzumab, a novel HER2 dimerization inhibitor, has been shown to be effective in the treatment of metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer when used in combination with trastuzumab and docetaxel and is recommended for first-line therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital, Harris Health System, Houston, TX 77026, USA. clement_t_chung@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Clement
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Masha S H
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Lam
mesh_terms: D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000191:economics* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D017321:Clinical Trials, Phase I as Topic; D017322:Clinical Trials, Phase II as Topic; D017326:Clinical Trials, Phase III as Topic; D016527:Drug Costs; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; C508053:ERBB2 protein, human; C485206:pertuzumab