Heather McArthur, MD, MPH

Articles

Clinical Insights Into Managing Heavily Pretreated HER2+ Metastatic Breast Cancer

May 28th 2025

Panelists discuss how they approach treatment beyond third-line therapy for HER2-positive (HER2+) metastatic breast cancer, considering factors such as prior therapies, residual toxicities, and patient preferences when selecting from multiple options.

Balancing Efficacy and Tolerability: Expert Insights Into Tucatinib Triplet Therapy for HER2+ Breast Cancer

May 28th 2025

Panelists discuss how they manage adverse effects of tucatinib-based therapy, particularly focusing on diarrhea and palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia from capecitabine, with practical dosing strategies to improve tolerability.

Tucatinib Combinations in HER2+ Breast Cancer: HER2CLIMB-02 and HER2CLIMB-05

May 21st 2025

Panelists discuss how the HER2CLIMB-02 and HER2CLIMB-05 trials might impact treatment sequencing, with particular interest in using tucatinib earlier in treatment to potentially prevent brain metastases.

Navigating Third-Line Treatment Options in HER2+ Breast Cancer: ADC or TKI

May 21st 2025

Panelists discuss how National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines inform third-line treatment options for HER2-positive (HER2+) metastatic breast cancer, with particular focus on the HER2CLIMB regimen (tucatinib, capecitabine, and trastuzumab) for patients with brain metastases.

Clinical Insights on the Next Treatment Approach for Metastatic HER2+ Breast Cancer with Brain Metastasis

May 14th 2025

Panelists discuss how they would approach multiple brain metastases at initial metastatic diagnosis, debating the use of stereotactic radiosurgery vs systemic therapy with agents that cross the blood-brain barrier.

Forty-Seven-Year-Old Woman With Recurrent HER2+ Breast Cancer and Brain Metastases

May 14th 2025

Panelists discuss how they approach the case of a 47-year-old marketing executive with initially low-risk HER2-positive (HER2+) breast cancer who developed brain, liver, lung, and bone metastases shortly after completing adjuvant therapy.

Managing Brain Metastases in HER2+ Breast Cancer: Second-Line Treatment Decisions

May 7th 2025

Panelists discuss how the presence of brain metastases influences treatment decisions in HER2-positive (HER2+) breast cancer, highlighting the DESTINY-Breast12 trial demonstrating trastuzumab deruxtecan’s (T-DXd) efficacy in patients with brain metastases.

Expert Perspectives on Navigating Treatment-Related Adverse Events With T-DXd

May 7th 2025

Panelists discuss how they manage adverse effects of trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd), particularly focusing on nausea, fatigue, and the critical monitoring needed for interstitial lung disease (ILD), with recommendations for prophylactic antiemetics and frequent imaging.

Clinical Insights Into Treatment Approach for Metastatic HER+ mBC Patient Case

April 30th 2025

Panelists discuss how they approach treatment sequencing for HER2-positive (HER2+) metastatic breast cancer (mBC) after progression on first-line therapy, including considerations for trastuzumab deruxtecan and the impressive results from the PATINA trial adding CDK4/6 inhibitors to maintenance therapy.

Clinical Scenario I: 52-year-old Woman With Recurrent Metastatic HER2+ Breast Cancer

April 30th 2025

Panelists discuss how a 52-year-old elementary school teacher diagnosed with HER2-positive (HER2+) breast cancer achieved pathologic complete response with neoadjuvant therapy but experienced metastasis 18 months after completing treatment, requiring first-line metastatic therapy.

Looking Ahead: Expert Future Perspectives in HR+ Breast Cancer

July 29th 2024

In their concluding remarks, Virginia Kaklamani, MD, DSc, and Heather McArthur, MD, summarize their key insights and perspectives on the management of HR+ breast cancer.

Future Directions and Unmet Needs in HR+ Breast Cancer

July 29th 2024

The key opinion leaders discuss the current unmet needs in the management of HR+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer and explore potential future directions and strategies that may lead to improved patient outcomes.

Combinations and Treatment Sequence Strategies in Breast Cancer

July 22nd 2024

In their discussion, the key opinion leaders explore the potential of combination therapies in HR+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer, with a specific focus on the ELECTRA study, which investigated the combination of elacestrant and abemaciclib.

PostMONARCH: Dissecting Data on Sequential CDK 4/6 Inhibitors

July 22nd 2024

The expert panel examines the subgroup data from the postMONARCH study, focusing on patients with ESR1 and PIK3CA mutations, and emphasizes the important role of CDK4/6 inhibitors in the treatment of these specific patient populations with HR+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer.

PIK3CA Mutations and Delivering PI3K Inhibitors

July 15th 2024

In their discussion, the key opinion leaders explore the significance of PIK3CA mutations in HR+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer and review the findings from two pivotal clinical trials, SOLAR-1 and CAPItello-291, which investigated the efficacy of targeted therapies in patients harboring these mutations.

Case Presentation 2: Co-mutations in ESR1 and PIK3CA

July 15th 2024

Virginia Kaklamani, MD, DSc, and Heather McArthur, MD, discuss the clinical presentation and management of a 64-year-old postmenopausal female with a history of rheumatoid arthritis who was diagnosed with stage IV, grade 3, invasive ductal carcinoma in her left breast, taking into account her comorbidities and the advanced stage of her breast cancer.

Evolving Best Practices for ESR1 Testing

July 8th 2024

The breast cancer experts share their clinical experiences and strategies regarding the optimal timing for testing ESR1 mutations in patients with HR+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer, elaborating on how the specific points in the treatment journey at which they recommend testing influence their subsequent treatment decisions and overall approach to patient management.

EMERALD Study Design and Results for Elacestrant

July 8th 2024

Key opinion leaders examine the EMERALD trial, which evaluates the efficacy of elacestrant in patients with HR+ HER2- metastatic breast cancer, focusing on the subgroup analysis of patients with visceral metastases, and explore how the trial's design and results have influenced their clinical practice.

Case Presentation 1: PIK3CA Mutation With ESR1 Mutations

July 1st 2024

Virginia Kaklamani, MD, DSc, and Heather McArthur, MD, present a patient case involving a 54-year-old postmenopausal woman diagnosed with a 2.1cm estrogen receptor positive (ER+), HER2 negative breast cancer, and discuss the clinical implications and management strategies for this specific patient scenario.

Dynamics of ESR1 Alterations and Serial Liquid Biopsies

July 1st 2024

In their discussion, medical experts in the field of breast cancer explore the role of liquid biopsies and compare the significance of ESR1 mutations to other biomarkers, such as PIK3CA, in terms of their driver versus passenger status in the context of HR+/HER2- breast cancer.