Monica Fornier, MD

This review explores the use of several such agents, including lapatinib (Tykerb), HSP90 inhibitors, T-DM1, and other tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Emerging data from trials of these agents indicate that the HER2 pathway remains a valid therapeutic target following disease progression on trastuzumab.

Ms. Donovan and Dr. Vahdat present a review of the literature on a novel class of agents, the epothilones, focusing in particular on the two most-investigated agents to date-patupilone and ixabepilone (Ixempra).

The need for accurate detection of HER2 status is becoming more apparent, as therapeutic decisions are influenced by this information in both the adjuvant and advanced-stage setting. Since the US Food and Drug

Recent trials comparing single-agent vs combination therapy in metastatic breast cancer suggest that it may be time to reconsider the belief that combination chemotherapy is the gold standard of treatment. Based on the