The trichotomy of HER2 expression confers new insights into the understanding and managing for breast cancer stratified by HER2 status

Abstract

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) is a tyrosine kinase receptor that plays a carcinogenic role in breast cancer (BC) through gene amplification, mutation, or overexpression. Traditional methods of HER2 detection were divided into positive (immunohistochemistry (IHC) 3+/fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) amplification) and negative (IHC 2+/FISH−, IHC 1+, IHC 0) according to the dichotomy method. Anti‐HER2‐targeted therapies, such as trastuzumab and pertuzumab, have significantly improved the prognosis of HER2‐positive patients. However, up to 75% to 85% of patients remain HER2‐negative. In recent years, with the rapid development of molecular biology, gene detection technology, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy, researchers have actively explored the clinicopathological characteristics, molecular biological characteristics, treatment methods, and HER2 detection methods of HER2‐low/zero breast cancer. With the clinical efficacy of new anti‐HER2 targeted drugs, accurate classification of breast cancer is very important for the treatment choice. Therefore, the following review summarizes the necessity of developing HER2 detection methods, and the clinicopathological and drug treatment characteristics of patients with HER2‐low/zero, to light the dawn of the treatment of breast cancer patients with HER2‐low/zero expression.

<italic>Xianling Lianxia</italic> formula enhances the inhibitory effects of trastuzumab on HER2-positive breast cancer

“…It is the top malignant tumor in terms of incidence in women, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive BC accounts for approximately 15%–25% of cases. This subtype is characterized by its aggressive nature and poor prognosis [1] . Trastuzumab exerts its inhibitory effects on HER2-positive BC through various mechanisms [2] , including blocking the activation of homodimers and triggering immune cells to kill cancer cells [3] .…”

Analyzing the research landscape: Mapping frontiers and hot spots in anti-cancer research using bibliometric analysis and research network pharmacology

“…In the past few decades, researchers have been devoted to finding drugs to treat cancer and have made tremendous progress in areas such as chemotherapy drugs ( Wang Y. et al, 2023 ), targeted drugs ( Isaksson et al, 2023 ; Jiang et al, 2023 ), immunotherapy ( Ren et al, 2023 ; Xiong et al, 2023 ; Yadav et al, 2023 ), sonodynamic therapy ( Wu et al, 2022 ), and radiation therapy ( Eyre-Walker and Stoletzki, 2013 ; Dumago et al, 2023 ; Moon et al, 2023 ). However, these anti-cancer strategies have shortcomings, including side effects and cancer recurrence.…”