ASCO 2021 | HER2 in prognosis of brain metastasis in breast cancer

Douglas G. Castro, MD, MSc, PhD, AC Camargo Cancer Center, São Paulo, Brazil, discusses the results of a study investigating the effect of HER2 expression in breast cancer circulating tumor cells (CTCs) on brain metastasis. Patients with HER2 expressing CTC had a longer distant brain failure-free survival (DBFFS) and a higher median overall survival (mOS) than patients without HER2 expressed in CTC, irrespective of HER2 expression in the primary tumor. These results may lead to the use of HER2 expression in CTCs as a prognostic tool for brain metastases in breast cancer. This interview took place at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2021 Virtual Meeting.