title: Pertuzumab in combination with trastuzumab and docetaxel for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.
abstract: Overexpression of HER2 - found in approximately 15-20% of all breast cancers - is a negative prognostic factor. Although trastuzumab significantly improves the prognosis of HER2-positive breast cancer, half of the patients with metastatic breast cancer experience disease progression within 1 year. Pertuzumab is a novel HER2-targeted humanized monoclonal antibody that binds to the dimerization domain of HER2 and acts synergically with trastuzumab in inhibiting tumor progression. The CLEOPATRA trial demonstrated that adding pertuzumab to trastuzumab plus docetaxel significantly prolonged progression-free survival and overall survival without increasing severe adverse events. Conclusively, pertuzumab was approved by the US FDA in June 2012 for use in combination with trastuzumab and docetaxel for the treatment of patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. Furthermore, various clinical trials to evaluate the efficacy and safety of pertuzumab combined with other cytotoxic agents are ongoing at present. Thus, pertuzumab has been becoming important for the treatment of patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Oncology, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-4-3 Asahi-machi, Abeno-ku, Osaka 545-8585, Japan.
authors.forename: Hidemi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kawajiri
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takashima
authors.forename: Shinichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kashiwagi
authors.forename: Satoru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Noda
authors.forename: Naoyoshi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Onoda
authors.forename: Kosei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hirakawa
mesh_terms: D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D000077143:Docetaxel; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D043823:Taxoids / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000068878:Trastuzumab
chemical_list: D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D000077143:Docetaxel; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D043823:Taxoids; D000068878:Trastuzumab; C485206:pertuzumab
keywords: CLEOPATRA; HER2; docetaxel; double blockade; metastatic breast cancer; pertuzumab; target therapy; trastuzumab