Handbook of HER2-targeted agents in breast cancer

Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer death in women worldwide, accounting for nearly a quarter of the total new cancer cases each year.  Of these cases, approximately  15–25% overexpress HER2, a transmembrane RTK kinase that is associated with aggressive tumor growth and poor outcomes.  However, in the past decade, survival rates of patients with HER-positive breast cancer have significantly improved due to increased screening, HER2 testing, and breakthrough HER2-targeted drug therapies. Handbook of HER2-Targeted Agents in Breast Cancer  provides oncologists, primary care physicians, trainees and other healthcare providers with a concise, accessible, and up-to-date survey of the field, including a review of our current understanding of the biology of the HER2 pathway and the rationale for targeting it in early-stage and advanced breast cancer, an overview of HER2-testing, and evidence-based discussions of available HER2-targeted regimens in the adjuvant and metastatic settings.

Introduction and background biology.- HER2 testing.- HER2-positive breast cancer: adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapy.- HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer: first-line treatment.- HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer: second-line treatment.- Emerging targeted agents for HER2-positive breast cancer.

This book has been written by a collection of some of the foremost experts in the breast cancer field. Dr Ricardo Alvarez is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Breast Medical Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr Javier Cortes is Deputy Director of the Breast Cancer Program, Head of the Breast Cancer and Melanoma Group in the Oncology Department of Vall d’Hebron University Hospital. Dr Mary Falzon is Consultant Histo/Cytopathologist and Divisional Clinical Director for University College London Hospitals in London, UK. Michael Gandy is Head of Clinical and Research Services at University College London Advanced Diagnostics in London, UK. Dr Luca Gianni is the Director of the Department of Medical Oncology at the Hospital San Raffaele in Milan, Italy. Professor Nadia Harbeck is Head of the Breast Center at the University of Munich, Germany and heads the Oncological Therapy and Clinical Trials Unit in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Professor Martine Piccart is Professor of Oncology at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and Director of Medicine at the Jules Bordet Institute, in Brussels, Belgium.