Targeted therapies: Combined lapatinib and paclitaxel in HER2-positive breast cancer.
Author(s): Castaneda CA, Gomez HL
Affiliation(s): Division of Medicine, Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Neoplasicas, Av. Angamos Este 2520, Surquillo, Lima 34, Peru.
Publication date & source: 2009-06, Nat Rev Clin Oncol., 6(6):308-9.
Publication type: Comment
A randomized phase III trial evaluated the effect of adding lapatinib to paclitaxel as first-line therapy for patients with metastatic breast cancer whose tumors were negative or untested for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) overexpression. Progression-free survival was prolonged significantly in patients with HER2-overexpressing tumors, which indicates that lapatinib exerts its main effects via the HER2 pathway.
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