“We used to consider HER2-positive breast cancer one of the more aggressive forms of the disease. Now we have treatments based on HER2 expression that have dramatically altered the course of the disease for many patients,” said C. Kent Osborne, MD, who moderated the press conference where these data were discussed. Dr. Osborne is Director of the Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

“This study raises an interesting question. We have patients on T-DM1 who are still alive. We don’t know how long to keep patients on the drug if they are in complete remission. This also raises the issue of cost and the question of who to treat,” Dr. Osborne continued.

“Luckily in this situation, we do have a biomarker—HER2 expression. We are not treating a larger number of patients than we need to, as we do in other scenarios,” he said. ■

Disclosure: Dr. Osborne reported no potential conflicts of interest.