FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH THAT CHANGED THE APPROACH TO NEOADJUVANT TREATMENT OF EARLY HER2-POSITIVE BREAST CANCER

Krivokhizhin Igor Viktorovich, Parsadanyan Ararat Mikichovich, Stepanyan Arus Araratovna

Neoadjuvant drug therapy has become an integral part of the comprehensive treatment of breast cancer, especially with the HER2-positive biological subtype. Over the past few years, the drug tactics of early HER2+ breast cancer has gone through many stages, starting from the appointment of chemotherapy in patients with HER2+ status in the era of the absence of targeted agents, to the sequential administration of preoperative and postoperative anti-HER2 drugs in combination with chemotherapy drugs. The appearance of targeted drugs has completely changed the attitude towards such a dangerous and formidable biological subtype as HER2+. Tumors with this molecular genetic subtype, when anti-HER2 agents appeared, began to actively respond to drug therapy and achieve complete pathomorphological responses (pCR). Patients with pCR have a better prognosis compared to patients with residual disease after neoadjuvant treatment. This article presents central studies that have historically changed the approach to the treatment of early HER2+ breast cancer, thanks to which, today, they are tools for the professional activity of an oncologist.

Keywords:HER2-positive breast cancer, anti-HER2 blockade, pCR, neoadjuvant drug therapy, RCB, FISH hybridization