Combination of radiotherapy and targeted therapy for HER2-positive breast cancer brain metastases

Xiaojing Yang; Hanru Ren; Yi Xu; Xue Peng; Wenxi Yu; Zan Shen

doi:10.1186/s40001-022-00894-7

Combination of radiotherapy and targeted therapy for HER2-positive breast cancer brain metastases

Eur J Med Res. 2023 Jan 16;28(1):27. doi: 10.1186/s40001-022-00894-7.

Authors

Xiaojing Yang^#^{1

2}, Hanru Ren^#³, Yi Xu¹, Xue Peng⁴, Wenxi Yu⁵, Zan Shen⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Oncology, Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, No. 600, Yishan Road, Shanghai, 200233, China.
² Department of Radiation Oncology, Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
³ Department of Orthopedics, Pudong Medical Center, Shanghai Pudong Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
⁴ Department of Breast Surgery, Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
⁵ Department of Oncology, Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, No. 600, Yishan Road, Shanghai, 200233, China. old.007@hotmail.com.
⁶ Department of Oncology, Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, No. 600, Yishan Road, Shanghai, 200233, China. sshenzzan@vip.sina.com.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Radiotherapy and targeted therapy are essential treatments for patients with brain metastases from human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer. However, the combination of radiotherapy and targeted therapy still needs to be investigated, and neurotoxicity induced by radiotherapy for brain metastases has also become an important issue of clinical concern. It remained unclear how to achieve the balance of efficacy and toxicity with the application of new radiotherapy techniques and new targeted therapy drugs. This article reviews the benefits and potential risk of combining radiotherapy and targeted therapy for HER2-positive breast cancer with brain metastases.

Keywords: Brain metastasis; Breast cancer; Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2; Radiation therapy; Targeted therapy.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Brain Neoplasms* / drug therapy
Brain Neoplasms* / radiotherapy
Brain Neoplasms* / secondary
Breast Neoplasms* / genetics
Breast Neoplasms* / radiotherapy
Female
Humans

Substances

ERBB2 protein, human

Grants and funding

ynqn202118/Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital