Julie Margenthaler, MD, FACS

Julie Margenthaler, MD, FACS, Professor of Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine and a breast surgeon at Siteman Cancer Center, St. Louis, underscored the “overall excellent outcomes” being achieved with chemotherapy and HER2-targeted therapy for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.

“Those who achieve a pathologic complete response following therapy (no residual disease in the breast or axilla) have superior survival to those who have residual disease. However, there are no differences between outcomes based on the method of administration,” Dr. Margenthaler told The ASCO Post. “In other words, neither sequential nor concurrent administration of an anthracycline with trastuzumab was superior in achieving a pathologic complete response.” ■

DISCLOSURE: Dr. Margenthaler reported no conflicts of interest.