Trastuzumab: a novel standard option for patients with HER-2-positive advanced gastric or gastro-oesophageal junction cancer.

ABSTRACT: The human epidermal receptor-2 (HER-2) is amplified in up to 25% of patients with gastroesophageal adenocarcinomas. Although the presence of this amplification does not appear to confer a poor prognosis, it provides a valuable novel therapeutic target for this group of patients. Trastuzumab is a fully humanized monoclonal antibody directed at HER-2 which binds the external domain of the receptor and exerts its action via a combination of antibody-dependent cytotoxicity, reduced shedding of the extracellular domain, inhibition of dimerization and possibly receptor downregulation. The ToGA trial was an international multicentre randomized phase III study which evaluated the addition of trastuzumab to a cisplatin plus fluoropyrimidine chemotherapy doublet in 594 patients with HER-2-positive a

SUBMITTER: Okines AF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3437538 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature