Less Is More: The APT Trial at 10 years

HER2-positive breast cancer is viewed as an aggressive subtype, yet the introduction of numerous HER2-directed therapies in recent years has significantly improved the outcome of patients with both early- and late-stage disease. Combinations of chemotherapy with HER2-directed agents, often multidrug combinations, have become standard adjuvant regimens for early-stage breast cancer. When the adjuvant paclitaxel and trastuzumab (APT) regimen was first reported almost a decade ago, it offered the prospect of excellent results for patients with lower risk, axillary node–negative breast cancer with a less toxic and simpler combination of drugs; APT represented de-escalation.

Now, investigators report the final 10-year analysis of the APT trial, a…