Review Article

Mechanisms of Resistance to Trastuzumab and Novel Therapeutic Strategies in HER2-Positive Breast Cancer

Table 1

Pertinent clinical trials of novel HER2-directed therapies in HER2-positive breast cancer.

TrialDevelopment phase (aProtocol No.)Study population (sample size/planned enrollment)Agents under evaluation

Dimerisation inhibitor (Pertuzumab)/Genentech

CLEOPATRARandomised phase III (NCT00567190) bMBC, 1st line ( )Docetaxel + trastuzumab + pertuzumab versus docetaxel + trastuzumab + placebo
BO17929 [46]Phase IIMBC, ≥2nd line, prior trastuzumab ( )Pertuzumab + trastuzumab pertuzumab → pertuzumab + trastuzumab on cPD
Randomised phase III (NCT01358877) Adjuvant, dEBC ( )Chemotherapy + trastuzumab + pertuzumab versus chemotherapy + trastuzumab + placebo
NeoSphere [48]Randomised phase IINeoadjuvant, stage II/III EBC ( )Docetaxel + trastuzumab + pertuzumab versus docetaxel + pertuzumab versus docetaxel + trastuzumab versus pertuzumab + trastuzumab

Antibody-Drug Conjugate (Trastuzumab-DM1)/Genentech

MARIANNERandomised phase III (NCT01120184) MBC, 1st line ( )T-DM1 + pertuzumab versus T-DM1 + placebo versus trastuzumab + taxane
EMILIARandomised phase III (NCT00829166) MBC, ≥2nd line, prior trastuzumab + taxane ( )T-DM1 versus lapatinib + capecitabine
TDM4450g [53]Randomised phase II (NCT00679341) MBC, 1st line ( )T-DM1 versus trastuzumab + docetaxel
Single-arm phase II (NCT01196052) Neoadjuvant/adjuvant, stage I-III ( ) after anthracyclinesT-DM1

Novel Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors

(i) Neratinib (HK-272)/Pfizer

NEFERTT Randomised phase II (NCT00915018) MBC, 1st line ( )Neratinib + paclitaxel versus trastuzumab + paclitaxel
Randomised phase II (NCT00777101) MBC, ≥2nd line, prior trastuzumab + taxane ( )Neratinib monotherapy versus lapatinib + capecitabine
Reference [60]Single-arm phase II (NCT00398567) MBC, ≥2nd line, prior trastuzumab ( )Neratinib + trastuzumab
ExteNETRandomised phase III (NCT00878709) Adjuvant, node-positive, stage II-III ( ) Completed trastuzumabNeratinib monotherapy versus placebo
FB-7Randomised phase II (NCT01008150) Neoadjuvant, stage IIB-IIIC ( )Neratinib + paclitaxel versus trastuzumab + paclitaxel

(ii) Afatinib (BIBW-2992)/Boehringer Ingelheim

LUX-Breast 1Randomised phase III (NCT01125566) MBC, ≥2nd line, prior trastuzumab ( )Afatinib + vinorelbine versus trastuzumab + vinorelbine
Reference [62]Single-arm Phase II (NCT00431067) MBC, ≥2nd line, prior trastuzumab ( )Afatinib monotherapy

(iii) ARRY-380/Array BioPharma

Expansion phase I (NCT00650572) MBC, ≥2nd line ( )ARRY-380 monotherapy

(iv) ARRY-334543/Array BioPharma

Phase I (NCT00710736) Advanced solid tumours ( )ARRY-334543 + capecitabine

Heat-shock protein 90 inhibitors

(i) Tanespimycin (17-AAG)/Bristol-Myers Squibb

Reference [67]Single-arm phase II (NCT00773344) MBC, ≥2nd line, prior trastuzumab ( )Tanespimycin + trastuzumab

(ii) AUY922/Novartis

Phase Ib/II (NCT001271920) MBC, ≥2nd line, prior trastuzumab ( )AUY 922 + trastuzumab

mTOR inhibitors

(i) Everolimus (RAD001)/Novartis

BOLERO-1 Randomised phase III (NCT00876395) MBC, 1st line ( )Paclitaxel + trastuzumab + everolimus versus paclitaxel + trastuzumab + placebo
BOLERO-3 Randomised phase III (NCT01007942) MBC, ≥2nd line, prior trastuzumab + taxane ( )Vinorelbine + trastuzumab + everolimus versus vinorelbine + trastuzumab + placebo
Reference [70]Phase I/II (NCT00426566) MBC, ≥2nd line, prior trastuzumab ( )Everolimus + trastuzumab
Single-arm phase II (NCT01283789) MBC, ≥2nd line, prior trastuzumab ( )Everolimus + lapatinib

(ii) Deforolimus (AP23573)/Ariad

Single-arm Phase II (NCT00736970) MBC, ≥2nd line, prior trastuzumab ( )Deforolimus + trastuzumab

(iii) Temsirolimus (CCI-779)/Wyeth

Single-arm phase I/II (NCT01111825) MBC, ≥2nd line, prior trastuzumab ( )Temsirolimus + neratinib

PI3K inhibitors

(i) BKM120/Novartis

Single-arm phase Ib/II (NCT01132664) MBC, ≥2nd line, prior trastuzumab ( )BKM120 + trastuzumab

(ii) BEZ235/Novartis

Single-arm phase II (NCT01288092) MBC, ≥2nd line, prior trastuzumab ( )BEZ235 monotherapy

Angiogenesis inhibitors

(i) Bevacizumab/Genentech/Roche

AVERELRandomised phase III (NCT00391092) MBC, 1st line ( )Docetaxel + trastuzumab + bevacizumab versus docetaxel + trastuzumab
ECOG1105Randomised phase III (NCT00520975) MBC, 1st line ( )Carboplatin + paclitaxel + trastuzumab+ bevacizumab versus carboplatin + paclitaxel + trastuzumab + placebo
BETHRandomised phase III (NCT00625898) Adjuvant, EBC ( )Chemotherapy + trastuzumab  + bevacizumab versus chemotherapy + trastuzumab

(ii) Pazopanib/GlaxoSmithKline

Reference [78]Randomised phase II (NCT00347919) MBC, 1st line ( )Pazopanib + lapatinib versus lapatinib
Randomised phase III (NCT00558103) Inflammatory breast cancer, ≥2nd line ( ) Prior trastuzumab/chemotherapyPazopanib + lapatinib versus lapatinib

IGF-1R inhibitors

(i) Cixutumumab (IMC-A12)/Eli Lilly

Randomised phase II (NCT00684983) MBC, ≥2nd line, prior trastuzumab, anthracycline and/or taxane ( )Lapatinib + capecitabine + cixutumumab versus
lapatinib + capecitabine

(ii) BMS-754807/Bristol-Myers Squibb

Phase I/II (NCT00788333) MBC, ≥2nd line, prior trastuzumab ( )BMS-754807 + trastuzumab

Bispecific antibody (MM-111)/Merrimack Pharmaceuticals

Phase I/II (NCT01097460) MBC, ≥2nd line, prior trastuzumab ( )MM-111 + trastuzumab

*Bold rows denote ongoing studies or trials pending results, aClinicalTrials.gov-http://clinicaltrials.gov/,bmetastatic breast cancer, cdisease progression, dearly breast cancer.