The role of trastuzumab in the adjuvant setting

Trastuzumab is a monoclone antibody directed against HER2 receptors that are overexpressed in approximately 20% of breast cancer patients. There were five clinical trials so far performed in which trastuzumab was applied in breast cancer patients in adjuvant setting. The results of all the trials consistently demonstrate a high efficacy of this target drug in the patients with HER2 positive tumors. So far, no formal guidelines for using trastuzumab in adjuvant setting for breast cancer have been approved. The reasons are many: (i) mean observation time in the studies done so far was considerably short; (ii) the…