Preoperative Trastuzumab, Docetaxel, and Carboplatin for HER2-Positive Breast Cancer

Therapeutically targeting the HER2 pathway with trastuzumab (Herceptin) during postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy clearly benefits patients with HER2-overexpressing breast tumors. In addition, the recently FDA-approved oral dual-kinase inhibitor, lapatinib (Tykerb), substantially improves clinical outcomes when combined with capecitabine (Xeloda) for patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer who already have received an anthracycline, a taxane, and trastuzumab. Preoperative trastuzumab, in combination with various chemotherapy regimens, has been investigated in phase II trials for patients with operable and locally advanced HER2-positive breast cancer. These trials generally have shown that combined therapy leads to higher objec…