Loading
5 treatment settings, 5 with more than one named option. Each section lays out the options the standard of care names, what each is for, the trials behind them with their recorded results, the side effects and cautions on record, and questions to ask. Built from the cancer page's standard-of-care rows; nothing here is advice for your case.
Surgery first, then twelve weeks of paclitaxel with a year of trastuzumab (APT).
A microtubule poison discovered in the Pacific yew tree, among the most used chemotherapies in breast, lung, and ovarian cancer.
The first targeted antibody for a solid tumour (1998), which turned HER2-positive breast cancer from the worst subtype into one of the most treatable.
Averages across everyone diagnosed, often years ago. A median is the middle of a group: half the people counted lived longer than the figure shown, and some lived far longer. Your stage, subtype, age, fitness and the treatment you receive matter more than the average, and the numbers are improving quickly.
No side-effect rates or interaction flags are recorded for these options yet. The side-effect lookup and interaction checker cover the products that have them.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.
Carboplatin, a taxane, trastuzumab and pertuzumab for six cycles without an anthracycline (TRAIN-2), or trastuzumab deruxtecan followed by taxane, trastuzumab and pertuzumab (DESTINY-Breast11).
Carboplatin is a platinum chemotherapy that crosslinks DNA; it is part of the standard pre-surgery regimen for triple-negative breast cancer.
The first chemotherapy to extend life in prostate cancer (2004), now part of triplet therapy at first metastatic diagnosis.
A microtubule poison discovered in the Pacific yew tree, among the most used chemotherapies in breast, lung, and ovarian cancer.
The first targeted antibody for a solid tumour (1998), which turned HER2-positive breast cancer from the worst subtype into one of the most treatable.
A second HER2 antibody that binds a different spot from trastuzumab, blocking HER2 from pairing with HER3; together they extended survival by 16 months in CLEOPATRA.
Trastuzumab deruxtecan (Enhertu) is the most successful ADC ever. It redefined HER2 by working in tumours with only tiny amounts of the protein, and in 2026 moved into early-stage breast cancer.
Averages across everyone diagnosed, often years ago. A median is the middle of a group: half the people counted lived longer than the figure shown, and some lived far longer. Your stage, subtype, age, fitness and the treatment you receive matter more than the average, and the numbers are improving quickly.
pCR 67.3% vs 56.3%.
| Side effect | Any grade | Grade 3+ |
|---|---|---|
| Neutropenia · DESTINY-Breast03/04; all-grade rates ≥20% per label | - | 18% |
| Nausea · DESTINY-Breast03/04; all-grade rates ≥20% per label | - | 7% |
| Anaemia · DESTINY-Breast03/04; all-grade rates ≥20% per label | - | 7% |
| Fatigue · DESTINY-Breast03/04; all-grade rates ≥20% per label | - | 6% |
Rates from the label or pivotal trial as recorded on the product page; each grade 3+ figure links to its source.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.
Trastuzumab, with pertuzumab in node-positive disease, to complete one year (APHINITY, HERA); endocrine therapy if hormone receptor-positive.
The first targeted antibody for a solid tumour (1998), which turned HER2-positive breast cancer from the worst subtype into one of the most treatable.
A second HER2 antibody that binds a different spot from trastuzumab, blocking HER2 from pairing with HER3; together they extended survival by 16 months in CLEOPATRA.
Averages across everyone diagnosed, often years ago. A median is the middle of a group: half the people counted lived longer than the figure shown, and some lived far longer. Your stage, subtype, age, fitness and the treatment you receive matter more than the average, and the numbers are improving quickly.
Averages across everyone diagnosed, often years ago. A median is the middle of a group: half the people counted lived longer than the figure shown, and some lived far longer. Your stage, subtype, age, fitness and the treatment you receive matter more than the average, and the numbers are improving quickly.
No side-effect rates or interaction flags are recorded for these options yet. The side-effect lookup and interaction checker cover the products that have them.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.
Trastuzumab deruxtecan (DESTINY-Breast05) or trastuzumab emtansine for fourteen cycles (KATHERINE).
Trastuzumab deruxtecan (Enhertu) is the most successful ADC ever. It redefined HER2 by working in tumours with only tiny amounts of the protein, and in 2026 moved into early-stage breast cancer.
Trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla, T-DM1) was the first ADC for a solid tumour (2013). It is still standard after surgery for HER2+ breast cancer patients whose tumour did not fully respond to pre-surgery treatment.
Averages across everyone diagnosed, often years ago. A median is the middle of a group: half the people counted lived longer than the figure shown, and some lived far longer. Your stage, subtype, age, fitness and the treatment you receive matter more than the average, and the numbers are improving quickly.
iDFS HR 0.50; OS HR 0.66.
| Side effect | Any grade | Grade 3+ |
|---|---|---|
| Neutropenia · DESTINY-Breast03/04; all-grade rates ≥20% per label | - | 18% |
| Nausea · DESTINY-Breast03/04; all-grade rates ≥20% per label | - | 7% |
| Anaemia · DESTINY-Breast03/04; all-grade rates ≥20% per label | - | 7% |
| Fatigue · DESTINY-Breast03/04; all-grade rates ≥20% per label | - | 6% |
Rates from the label or pivotal trial as recorded on the product page; each grade 3+ figure links to its source.
| Side effect | Any grade | Grade 3+ |
|---|---|---|
| Thrombocytopenia · KATHERINE (adjuvant) | 29% | 6% |
| Fatigue · KATHERINE (adjuvant) | 50% | - |
| Nausea · KATHERINE (adjuvant) | 42% | - |
| Transaminases increased · KATHERINE (adjuvant) | 32% | - |
Rates from the label or pivotal trial as recorded on the product page; each grade 3+ figure links to its source.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.
Breast conservation or mastectomy with sentinel node biopsy, radiotherapy by stage, and echocardiography every three months during trastuzumab.
Removing just the first lymph node a tumour drains to, instead of all of them, to check for spread.
Fewer, larger daily doses instead of the classic five to seven weeks of small ones. Large trials in breast and prostate cancer showed the same control with the same or fewer late effects and far less time in hospital.
No trial record is attached to this row yet. The trials tab lists what is recruiting and the landmark trials for this cancer.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.