School of Pharmacy.
Int J Womens Health. 2010 Aug 9;1:155-71. doi: 10.2147/ijwh.s5647.
The ability to probe diseases at the genomic level has improved our understanding and enhanced the treatment of breast cancer. One important finding relates to the HER2 oncogene which encodes a novel transmembrane receptor that, when overexpressed, appears to confer growth and survival advantages to breast tumor cells. This fortuitous discovery enabled researchers to develop agents which could inhibit receptor-mediated tumor cell signaling. Numerous clinical trials of such agents have demonstrated improved outcomes in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer. Nonetheless, not all tumors respond to therapy targeting the receptor, while relapses occur after an initial response to treatment. This paper provides a historical and current perspective of the treatment of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.
在基因组水平探测疾病的能力提高了我们对乳腺癌的认识并增强了其治疗效果。一个重要的发现与 HER2 癌基因有关，该基因编码一种新型的跨膜受体，当其过度表达时，似乎为乳腺癌细胞赋予了生长和存活优势。这一偶然的发现使研究人员能够开发出能够抑制受体介导的肿瘤细胞信号的药物。此类药物的许多临床试验已经证明，HER2 阳性乳腺癌患者的治疗结果得到了改善。然而，并非所有肿瘤对针对受体的治疗都有反应，而在初始治疗反应后会出现复发。本文提供了 HER2 阳性乳腺癌患者治疗的历史和现状的观点。
