The greatest benefit from the trastuzumab plus chemotherapy regimen might occur when used as first-line treatment, Dr. Santin suggested. He expressed interest in running a second study to validate the current findings, and a new study that would combine a second antibody directed against HER2, pertuzumab (Perjeta) with trastuzumab, carboplatin, and paclitaxel.
A key factor in making the trastuzumab plus chemotherapy regimen more widely available to USC patients would be routinely screening these patients for high levels of HER2/neu expression immediately after USC is diagnosed. “At Yale and Johns Hopkins this testing is done on all USC patients. That’s not standard care everywhere, but it should be based on these data,” Dr. Santin said in an interview.
SOURCE: Fader A et al. Abstract 22. J Clin Oncol. 2018 Mar 27. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2017.76.5966.