Onkologie. 2020:14(2):93-95 | DOI: 10.36290/xon.2020.017

Residual disease after neoadjuvant systemic anti-HER2 therapy: the KATHERINE trial

Katarína Petráková

Klinika komplexní onkologické péče, MOÚ Brno

The primary goal of neoadjuvant systemic therapy is to achieve tumour operability. The achievement of pathological complete remission (pCR) also serves as a prognostic factor, particularly in patients with an aggressive type of tumour. Those with a residual tumour following neoadjuvant therapy have a worse prognosis. The KATHERINE clinical trial has shown that patients with HER2-positive breast cancer with a residual tumour after neoadjuvant anti-HER2 therapy who were subsequently treated with T-DM1 had a significantly better overall survival (OS) in comparison with those who continued to receive treatment with trastuzumab. According to the results published, patients with HER2 discordance examined in tru-cut biopsy and in the residual tumour have a worse prognosis. Moreover, the prognosis is also affected by the presence of tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) in the residual tumour.

Keywords: neoadjuvant systemic therapy, residual tumour, HER2, T-DM1, TIL, tumour heterogeneity.

Published: June 2, 2020  Show citation