Studies suggest that between 15 and 30 percent of women and men with metastatic breast cancer will develop brain metastases. This number has been increasing as MBC patients live longer on treatments that control cancer growth in other areas of the body.
Clinical trials are currently looking at the best way to treat brain metastases. In September, the FDA approved neratinib (Nerlynx®) as a treatment for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. Its previous approval was for extended adjuvant treatment for patients with early-stage HER2+ breast cancer who have already received trastuzumab (Herceptin®).
With the links below, you can learn more about developments in treating breast cancer brain metastases and the new FDA approval. You can also find links to all the clinical trials listed on BCT for breast cancer brain metastases, including the first trial to use CAR T cell therapy to treat HER2+ brain metastases.
- Medscape: Preventing Breast Cancer Brain Metastases: How Close Are We?
- Medscape: Breast Cancer Brain Metastases: New Initial Therapy Options
- Healio: FDA Grants Orphan Drug Designation to Nerlynx for Breast Cancer Brain Metastases
- Share Cancer Support: Brain Metastasis: Emerging Treatments and Reasons to be Hopeful
- Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL): The Path of Breast-to-Brain Cancer Metastases
- OncLive: New Strategies Are Evolving for Breast Cancer Brain Metastases
- FDA: Cancer Clinical Trial Eligibility Criteria: Brain Metastases
- Metastatic Trial Search: See All Clinical Trials Specifically for Breast Cancer Brain Metastases
Last Modified on February 24, 2021