Silvia Chiara Formenti, MD, chair, Department of Radiation Oncology, Weill Cornell, associate director, Meyer Cancer Center, radiation oncologist-in-chief, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, discusses the recent progress with HER2-targeted therapy in the treatment of patients with breast cancer.

In the last 5 to 10 years, Formenti says oncologists have learned much more about breast cancer and have reduced the mortality associated with the disease. However, more progress needs to be made. Each year, there has approximately been a 1.5% decrease in the mortality rate in the last 20 to 30 years. Based on subsets of breast cancer, physicians can now give newly diagnosed patients a more comprehensive outlook in terms of prognosis and management. For patients with HER2-positive disease, targeted therapies like trastuzumab (Herceptin) and pertuzumab (Perjeta) have dramatically improved outcomes.

For this reason, a lot of research has been recently focused on triple-negative breast cancer where there is currently no available targets. Chemotherapy has been effective in these patients, but a more personalized targeted therapy would make a difference, Formenti says.

Videos

Silvia Chiara Formenti, MD, chair, Department of Radiation Oncology, Weill Cornell, associate director, Meyer Cancer Center, radiation oncologist-in-chief, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, discusses the recent progress with HER2-targeted therapy in the treatment of breast cancer.

Dr. Formenti on Recent Progress With HER2-Targeted Therapy

Silvia Chiara Formenti, MD, chair, Department of Radiation Oncology, Weill Cornell, associate director, Meyer Cancer Center, radiation oncologist-in-chief, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, discusses the role of the immune system in cancer treatment.

A crucial part of a patient’s response to treatment is the recovery of the immune system, Formenti says. The recent rise of immune checkpoint inhibitors has been effective in addressing this. In tumors that are highly immunogenic, like melanoma, it seems to be sufficient to just correct the immune system of the patient. This is based on the rationale that a patient’s immune system has seen the tumor develop, and has allowed this to happen. A very basic concept is that the immune system is the patient’s best fighter of cancer because it can recognize transformed cells and eliminate them.

For the time patients have established tumors, the cancer cells have grown, become more invasive, and more symptomatic. At this point, there is some degree of evasion from the immune system. Immune checkpoint blockade, Formenti says, has opened the way to a patient responding to his or her own cancer.

Dr. Formenti on the Role of the Immune System in Cancer Treatment

Silvia Chiara Formenti, MD, chairman, Department of Radiation Oncology, Weill Cornell, associate director, Meyer Cancer Center, radiation oncologist-in-chief, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, discusses immunology in the breast cancer treatment landscape.

Over the last 20 years, progress in immunology has allowed for the development of drugs that can modify the immune system of a patient with cancer and facilitate the rejection of tumors. Concurrently, research regarding radiotherapy, surgery, and combination therapy has also evolved and become better understood in the landscape of breast cancer. These 2 parallel lines of research have converged, says Formenti, modifying the way that cancer is looked at today.

The target of a patient’s cancer is no longer just the tumor, but also the immune system. Formenti explains that by the time that most breast cancer is detected and diagnosed, the relationship between the host and the tumor has modified how the immune system recognizes that tumor.

Silvia Chiara Formenti, MD, chairman, Department of Radiation Oncology, Weill Cornell, associate director, Meyer Cancer Center, radiation oncologist-in-chief, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, discusses immunology in the breast cancer treatment landscape.
 

Silvia Chiara Formenti, MD

Articles

Dr. Formenti on Recent Progress With HER2-Targeted Therapy

Dr. Formenti on the Role of the Immune System in Cancer Treatment

Dr. Formenti Discusses Immunology in Breast Cancer Treatment