Delay in initiation of adjuvant trastuzumab therapy leads to decreased overall survival and relapse-free survival in patients with HER2-positive non-metastatic breast cancer.

Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, 2016 05; 157(1): 145-156. e-pub ahead of print 2016/04/25

Trastuzumab reduces the risk of relapse in women with HER2-positive non-metastatic breast cancer, but little information exists on the timing of trastuzumab initiation. The study investigated the impact of delaying the initiation of adjuvant trastuzumab therapy for >6 months after the breast cancer diagnosis on time to relapse, overall survival (OS), and relapse-free survival (RFS) among patients with non-metastatic breast cancer. After adjusting for confounders, patients who initiated trastuzumab >6 months after the breast cancer diagnosis had a higher risk of relapse, death, or relapse/death than those who initiated trastuzumab within ≤6 months of diagnosis. The results of this population-based study suggest that delays of >6 months in the initiation of trastuzumab among HER2-positive non-metastatic breast cancer patients are associated with a higher risk of relapse and shorter OS and RFS.

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Authors

Gallagher CM, More K, Kamath T, Masaquel A, Guerin A, Ionescu-Ittu R, Gauthier-Loiselle M, Nitulescu R, Sicignano N, Butts E, Wu EQ, Barnett B