Adjuvant paclitaxel and trastuzumab for small, node-negative, HER2-positive breast cancer: ten-year survival update of APT

The multicenter phase 2 APT trial, in sixteen centers in the USA, included patients with small (≤ 3 cm), node-negative, HER2-positive breast cancer, who were treated with adjuvant paclitaxel and trastuzumab for 12 weeks, followed by 9 months of trastuzumab monotherapy. Ten year follow-up of the trial found that 10-year invasive disease-free survival was 91.3%, 10-year recurrence-free interval was 96.3%, 10-year overall survival was 94.3%, and 10-year breast cancer-specific survival was 98.8%. HER2DX risk score as continuous variable was significantly associated with IDFS and RFI. The authors conclude that adjuvant paclitaxel and trastuzumab is a reasonable treatment standard for small, node-negative, HER2-positive breast cancer.