retrospective study (so not definitive) --9 wks as good as 52 wks herceptin for adjuv

[Lani]

ant treatment of her2+ bc

hope this makes some of you who had to stop herceptin early rest easier...

Curr Med Res Opin. 2014 Sep 15:1-26. [Epub ahead of print]
The efficacy of adjuvant trastuzumab in HER-2 positive breast cancer with axillary lymph node metastases accordıng to the treatment duration.
Sendur MA1, Aksoy S, Ozdemir NY, Yazıcı O, Zengin N, Altundag K.
Author information

Abstract
Abstract Introduction: Trastuzumab is the first anti-HER2 humanized monoclonal antibody. The benefit of adjuvant trastuzumab was shown in randomized phase III trials. Despite trastuzumab is recommended for 52 weeks in the adjuvant treatment of HER-2 positive breast cancer according to the current breast cancer guidelines, there is still no consensus of the optimal duration of adjuvant trastuzumab. The aim of our study is to investigate the efficacy and safety of adjuvant 9-weeks and 52-weeks trastuzumab in axillary lymph node-positive HER-2 positive breast cancer patients. Patients and Methods: A total of 271 HER-2 and axillary node-positive breast cancer patients who received trastuzumab in the adjuvant treatment between 2005 and 2013 years were retrospectively analyzed. Patients with axillary node-positive HER-2 positive breast cancer who were non-metastatic were enrolled to the study. Patients were considered as 9-week trastuzumab group (n = 155) and 52-week trastuzumab group (n = 116). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was carried out for disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). Two-sided P values of <0.05 were considered statistically significant. The most important limitation of our manuscript is that the retrospective design. Results: The median follow-up time for this analysis was 34 (4-95) months. Patients clinical and pathological characteristics are well-balanced between two treatment arms. In 9-week trastuzumab treatment group, DFS rate was 96.7%, 84.8% and 74.9% whereas in 52-week trastuzumab treatment group, DFS rate was 94.3%, 80.0% and 80.0% in the first, third and fifth years respectively (P = 0.76). In 9-week trastuzumab treatment group, OS rate was 99.3%, 92.2% and 88.3% whereas in 52-week trastuzumab treatment group, OS rate was 99.0%, 94.7% and 78.6% in the first, third and fifth years respectively(P = 0.99). In both groups, symptomatic heart failure was not reported but asymptomatic left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) decline was observed 3 (1.9%) and 18 (15.5%) patients in 9-week and 52-week trastuzumab treatment groups, respectively (P <0.001). Conclusion: In our study, the efficacy of 52-weeks and 9-weeks trastuzumab was similar in node-positive HER-2 positive breast cancer. Cardiotoxicity was significantly increased in 52-weeks trastuzumab arm compared to 9-week trastuzumab arm.
KEYWORDS:
HER-2; adjuvant therapy; breast cancer; trastuzumab; trastuzumab cardiotoxicity

PMID: 25222762