Unfortunately, we are currently encountering locally very advanced and generalized breast cancers. However, due to systemic therapy and especially targeted therapy, we can see excellent long-term responses in patients with HER2 positive tumors.
The discovery of novel products targeting the extracellular domain of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) and the combination of this monoclonal antibody with the microtubule inhibitor T-DM1 (trastuzumab emtansine) has resulted in a statistically significant increase in overall survival and has changed metastatic HER2 positive breast cancer to chronic disease.